Hi there,

I've seen for sale on ebay a kind of reed meter and the description said:

Here is a very cool looking Reed Strength Meter. Made by Maccaferri.
Comes complete with box, instructions, felt bag and reed meter.
Probably made in the 40s? This item is "A REED MAN'S DREAM COME TRUE

well... somebody know about that and the Maccaferri Story? I only
understand he was working in Selmer USA when young. Is this Maccaferri
related to the manufacturer of guitars? I heard of good mouthpieces
for clarinet... heard or read somewhere, but I have a beautiful tenor
mouthpiece made by Maccaferri. It's nylon made and white, with lig
included on shank on the way of Lawton but has double screw. The lig
is amazing idea and work so good! The piece is good for players use
small opening but sound is deep. Have big chamber and large scooped
walls...

Any story is welcome.

Ciao a tutti.
Gian

I bought a Macaferri reed-o-meter from WWBW a few years 
ago (I'm a sucker for gadgets).  It does measure some 
degree of springiness of reeds, but it's a rather crude 
measurement that I don't find helpful on day-to-day use.

The device is mainly useful, I think, to someone cutting 
their own reeds from scratch, to get into some kind of 
ballpark, or in sorting reeds that are completely unknown 
in terms of strength.

However, I think other members of this group will have 
some interesting things to say about Macaferri.

BL

On Sat, 16 Feb 2008 13:02:09 -0000
  "Gian Luca Corino" <cubismofree@...> wrote:
>Hi there,
>
>I've seen for sale on ebay a kind of reed meter and the 
>description said:
>
>Here is a very cool looking Reed Strength Meter. Made by 
>Maccaferri.
>Comes complete with box, instructions, felt bag and reed 
>meter.
>Probably made in the 40s? This item is "A REED MAN'S 
>DREAM COME TRUE
>
>well... somebody know about that and the Maccaferri 
>Story? I only
>understand he was working in Selmer USA when young. Is 
>this Maccaferri
>related to the manufacturer of guitars? I heard of good 
>mouthpieces
>for clarinet... heard or read somewhere, but I have a 
>beautiful tenor
>mouthpiece made by Maccaferri. It's nylon made and white, 
>with lig
>included on shank on the way of Lawton but has double 
>screw. The lig
>is amazing idea and work so good! The piece is good for 
>players use
>small opening but sound is deep. Have big chamber and 
>large scooped
>walls...
>
>Any story is welcome.
>
>Ciao a tutti.
>Gian
>

Gian Lucca,
Interesting stuff. Would it be possible to mail a picture of that
mouthpiece to me? Much appreciated. 
Fred

--- In MouthpieceWork@yahoogroups.com, "Gian Luca Corino"
<cubismofree@...> wrote:
>
> Hi there,
> 
> I've seen for sale on ebay a kind of reed meter and the description
said:
> 
> Here is a very cool looking Reed Strength Meter. Made by Maccaferri.
> Comes complete with box, instructions, felt bag and reed meter.
> Probably made in the 40s? This item is "A REED MAN'S DREAM COME TRUE
> 
> well... somebody know about that and the Maccaferri Story? I only
> understand he was working in Selmer USA when young. Is this Maccaferri
> related to the manufacturer of guitars? I heard of good mouthpieces
> for clarinet... heard or read somewhere, but I have a beautiful tenor
> mouthpiece made by Maccaferri. It's nylon made and white, with lig
> included on shank on the way of Lawton but has double screw. The lig
> is amazing idea and work so good! The piece is good for players use
> small opening but sound is deep. Have big chamber and large scooped
> walls...
> 
> Any story is welcome.
> 
> Ciao a tutti.
> Gian
>

Here is the Web Site ... http://www.frenchamericanreeds.com/index.htm   

"fred.kort" <fredkort@...> wrote:          Gian Lucca,
Interesting stuff. Would it be possible to mail a picture of that
mouthpiece to me? Much appreciated. 
Fred

--- In MouthpieceWork@yahoogroups.com, "Gian Luca Corino"
<cubismofree@...> wrote:
>
> Hi there,
> 
> I've seen for sale on ebay a kind of reed meter and the description
said:
> 
> Here is a very cool looking Reed Strength Meter. Made by Maccaferri.
> Comes complete with box, instructions, felt bag and reed meter.
> Probably made in the 40s? This item is "A REED MAN'S DREAM COME TRUE
> 
> well... somebody know about that and the Maccaferri Story? I only
> understand he was working in Selmer USA when young. Is this Maccaferri
> related to the manufacturer of guitars? I heard of good mouthpieces
> for clarinet... heard or read somewhere, but I have a beautiful tenor
> mouthpiece made by Maccaferri. It's nylon made and white, with lig
> included on shank on the way of Lawton but has double screw. The lig
> is amazing idea and work so good! The piece is good for players use
> small opening but sound is deep. Have big chamber and large scooped
> walls...
> 
> Any story is welcome.
> 
> Ciao a tutti.
> Gian
>



                         


Jim Moncher
Colorado Springs, CO 
  719.271.1497

Bariaxman Radio

My dear Bariaxman,
Thank you for your swift reply. But what my intention was a picture of
the mouthpiece Gian Lucca was writing about. And I'm sorry if I was
not clear with my request.
So please Gian Lucca is it possible t mail me a picture of your
mouthpiece. 
Thank you, Fred


--- In MouthpieceWork@yahoogroups.com, "Gian Luca Corino"
<cubismofree@...> wrote:
>
> Hi there,
> 
> I've seen for sale on ebay a kind of reed meter and the description
said:
> 
> Here is a very cool looking Reed Strength Meter. Made by Maccaferri.
> Comes complete with box, instructions, felt bag and reed meter.
> Probably made in the 40s? This item is "A REED MAN'S DREAM COME TRUE
> 
> well... somebody know about that and the Maccaferri Story? I only
> understand he was working in Selmer USA when young. Is this Maccaferri
> related to the manufacturer of guitars? I heard of good mouthpieces
> for clarinet... heard or read somewhere, but I have a beautiful tenor
> mouthpiece made by Maccaferri. It's nylon made and white, with lig
> included on shank on the way of Lawton but has double screw. The lig
> is amazing idea and work so good! The piece is good for players use
> small opening but sound is deep. Have big chamber and large scooped
> walls...
> 
> Any story is welcome.
> 
> Ciao a tutti.
> Gian
>

--- In MouthpieceWork@yahoogroups.com, "Gian Luca Corino"
<cubismofree@...> wrote:

> I've seen for sale on ebay a kind of reed meter and the description
said:
> 
> Here is a very cool looking Reed Strength Meter. Made by Maccaferri. <


The Maccaferri Reed Meter has been around forever -- at least since
the late 1950s.  Now, as then, it's a POS (Piece of S**t).  The
reading depends on how far the reed goes into the slot, and how far to
either side the tip is.  That's never the same.  Drop a reed into it 5
times and you get 5 completely different readings.

You can learn in a few minutes to gauge the strength of a reed by
flexing it, either against the top of your thumbnail or on the pad of
your index finger, and by looking at the tip in front of a bright light.

Anyway, the playability of a reed depends on how well it's balanced
from side to side, and how even the graduation of the vamp is.  The
Maccaferri can't tell you even a little bit about that.

If you want to be scientific, you need a dial microgauge, which gives
the reading at a particular spot and reads the same every time.

As you learn to adjust reeds, you get to where you do it by feel and
by holding it on the mouthpiece with your thumb and giving it a toot.
 Don't waste your money on the Maccaferri.

Ken Shaw

Maccaferri was an inventor of several items for sax and guitar.  I think he
had the patent on the slide-on single screw ligature used on Lawtons,
Sugals and a few others.


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I just bought a Buescher True Tone Tenor that had a huge inventory of 
old reeds and reed holders.  One of the interesting models in it's 
original expensive plastic packaging was the Maccaferri reeds.  They 
had grooves cut on the top of the reed and some trade name 
like "isovibrators."  Internet research came up with the inventor 
(Maccaferri), his history, inventions, etc.  The grooves allegedly 
made the reed vibrate more freely.  It appears that the reed invention 
wasn't anything that was such an improvement that it continues today.  
Also, there were other reeds in the old case that clearly copied the 
Maccaferri gimmick, so it apparently wasn't patentable or was a patent 
not worth protecting.

The interesting part of doing the research was that Maccaferri (a 
classically trained guitar player) was involved in the then new-
fangled mass production of instruments and accessories using plastic.  
His biggest claim to fame was a uni-molded ukelele in the 1950's.  
Made it big when Arthur Godfrey plugged the Maccaferri plastic uke on 
his TV show.  Surviving ukes bring big bucks on Ebay.