Mainly out of curiosity, and also for practice and experimentation, I 
purchased two of the silver-plated metal mouthpieces sold by "Musicalwheel"
on Ebay.

The seller says these are real silver plate and are modeled after Selmer
metal mouthpieces, but not having one to compare it to directly, I can't say
exactly how close it is as far as chambering etc. Compared to an older HR
Selmer piece, it has similar interior side-walls (straight) and baffle. The
chamber is a straight round bore with no throat constriction. The interior
of the piece is also well-finished, smooth, and plated.

This was a decent-playing tenor piece right out of the box, although not
exactly my cup of tea.

For one thing, it was a somewhat narrower facing than I need, and slightly
narrower than specified. (It was supposed to be 2.5 mm, or .098", but
measured .094").

Very well-finished, with fairly thick silver plate (because I did some
refacing to open it up, and it took a while to get through the silver to the
brass). I used this piece to practice opening up the facing by taking off
the table from the rear.

So far, I haven't seen any tarnish typical of silver, but it's still
relatively new, and does have the right soft lustre. If not silver, darn
good imitation.

The rails had some slight assymetry, easily corrected. The facing is a bit
narrower than the Fibracell reeds I use, as is the table, even after having
been widened a bit by the refacing procedure.

All in all, these are a decent buy, at the very least, useful as practice
blanks. The narrowness of the table and facing may be a problem for some
folks. I should add, however, that I also purchased a metal alto mouthpiece
from this seller, and the table and facing are the correct width.

Barry

I've picked up quite a few Asian metal mouthpieces lately. Some of them are
surprisingly good!
 
The one that Barry referenced in his post is similar to a Selmer metal, not
the HR. It's available from the manufacturer in China in four different
facings. The ligature provided is of pretty good quality as well.
 
I've located about a dozen factories in Asia that are turning out metal
mouthpieces, and am looking for more. The factories are quite eager to
improve the facing curves they use, and are most open to suggestions. Their
plating quality is generally very good. They don't offer a lot of different
configurations at present, and are looking for design input. Very honestly,
at this point, they are pretty much making copies of proven designs, but you
can expect that to change.
 
The facing accuracy I've been seeing is at least as good as what is offered
by Babbitt and some other domestic makers, but of course not as good as you
would get from a high end maker like Phil Barone. Like anything else, you
get what you pay for.
 
I'll soon be selling a couple of different mouthpieces on my retail site.
I've ordered, and expect about a sixty day delivery. Although I'm using
their blank, the specifications are mine. The selling price will be most
reasonable.
 
 

  _____  

From: MouthpieceWork@yahoogroups.com [mailto:MouthpieceWork@yahoogroups.com]
On Behalf Of Barry Levine
Sent: Sunday, October 22, 2006 9:22 AM
To: MouthpieceWork@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [MouthpieceWork] User review of Ebay Chinese Metal Mouthpiece



Mainly out of curiosity, and also for practice and experimentation, I 
purchased two of the silver-plated metal mouthpieces sold by "Musicalwheel"
on Ebay.

The seller says these are real silver plate and are modeled after Selmer
metal mouthpieces, but not having one to compare it to directly, I can't say
exactly how close it is as far as chambering etc. Compared to an older HR
Selmer piece, it has similar interior side-walls (straight) and baffle. The
chamber is a straight round bore with no throat constriction. The interior
of the piece is also well-finished, smooth, and plated.

This was a decent-playing tenor piece right out of the box, although not
exactly my cup of tea.

For one thing, it was a somewhat narrower facing than I need, and slightly
narrower than specified. (It was supposed to be 2.5 mm, or .098", but
measured .094").

Very well-finished, with fairly thick silver plate (because I did some
refacing to open it up, and it took a while to get through the silver to the
brass). I used this piece to practice opening up the facing by taking off
the table from the rear.

So far, I haven't seen any tarnish typical of silver, but it's still
relatively new, and does have the right soft lustre. If not silver, darn
good imitation.

The rails had some slight assymetry, easily corrected. The facing is a bit
narrower than the Fibracell reeds I use, as is the table, even after having
been widened a bit by the refacing procedure.

All in all, these are a decent buy, at the very least, useful as practice
blanks. The narrowness of the table and facing may be a problem for some
folks. I should add, however, that I also purchased a metal alto mouthpiece
from this seller, and the table and facing are the correct width.

Barry