I know this is a more (and by more I mean very) ignorant post, but I'll wing it. ;)

I have a Selmer Goldentone plastic mouthpiece I practiced for my first reface. My goal was to get the mouthpiece down to the minimums. Essentially, I wanted to make the chamber bigger, thin the rails, remove the baffle, basically anything that required removing material. For my next piece I tried adding, and this let me do quite a bit of practice. 

The Selmer Goldentone is a dud but it is finished beautifully in my opinion. Now I hate to say this, but the finishing in terms of evenness looks much better than not only some Babbit mouthpieces, but some mouthpieces hand made by people. (did I mention I was humble?)

To the point, I spent a lot of time on the piece and worked and undid and worked and undid over a period of about a week or two to make sure it was physically beautiful. When I look at it, the cleanliness to the work reminds me of those Aizen mouthpieces every seems to love. I was proud, until I slapped the reed on. 

When I buzz on just the mouthpiece I'll notice its very free blowing and clean, but there seems to be some gaps. I'll play for 4 seconds and then it stops, and then I reblow and similar results happen. I put it on the tenor and it plays some notes but nothing in the extreme like very low notes. I understand that this is no surprise because this piece was designed to, well, look good! Does anyone know what aspects could likely cause these problems? The chamber is medium by the way. Thin rails, no baffle, medium chamber, and unfortunately I did not use any meausuring tools and I don't have any so I don't know the tip. If it is the tip, would you guess to small or too big (I would guess small) and how would I make it bigger?

The problem is in the table and/or the facing curve.  You've gone as far as you can go without measuring now.  Time to drop $50 on some tools.  

--- In MouthpieceWork@yahoogroups.com, "xmichaelpartlowx" <xmichaelpartlowx@...> wrote:
>
> I know this is a more (and by more I mean very) ignorant post, but I'll wing it. ;)
> 
> I have a Selmer Goldentone plastic mouthpiece I practiced for my first reface. My goal was to get the mouthpiece down to the minimums. Essentially, I wanted to make the chamber bigger, thin the rails, remove the baffle, basically anything that required removing material. For my next piece I tried adding, and this let me do quite a bit of practice. 
> 
> The Selmer Goldentone is a dud but it is finished beautifully in my opinion. Now I hate to say this, but the finishing in terms of evenness looks much better than not only some Babbit mouthpieces, but some mouthpieces hand made by people. (did I mention I was humble?)
> 
> To the point, I spent a lot of time on the piece and worked and undid and worked and undid over a period of about a week or two to make sure it was physically beautiful. When I look at it, the cleanliness to the work reminds me of those Aizen mouthpieces every seems to love. I was proud, until I slapped the reed on. 
> 
> When I buzz on just the mouthpiece I'll notice its very free blowing and clean, but there seems to be some gaps. I'll play for 4 seconds and then it stops, and then I reblow and similar results happen. I put it on the tenor and it plays some notes but nothing in the extreme like very low notes. I understand that this is no surprise because this piece was designed to, well, look good! Does anyone know what aspects could likely cause these problems? The chamber is medium by the way. Thin rails, no baffle, medium chamber, and unfortunately I did not use any meausuring tools and I don't have any so I don't know the tip. If it is the tip, would you guess to small or too big (I would guess small) and how would I make it bigger?
>

From jimmitch >>>You need a good refacing kit .Check the links for them.If you are not going to measure then you will need to play test many times as you are working on the piece.I never cared much about the look of a mouthpiece. I only care that it plays great.

--- In MouthpieceWork@...m, "Morgan" <frymorgan@...> wrote:
>
> The problem is in the table and/or the facing curve.  You've gone as far as you can go without measuring now.  Time to drop $50 on some tools.  
> 
> --- In MouthpieceWork@...m, "xmichaelpartlowx" <xmichaelpartlowx@> wrote:
> >
> > I know this is a more (and by more I mean very) ignorant post, but I'll wing it. ;)
> > 
> > I have a Selmer Goldentone plastic mouthpiece I practiced for my first reface. My goal was to get the mouthpiece down to the minimums. Essentially, I wanted to make the chamber bigger, thin the rails, remove the baffle, basically anything that required removing material. For my next piece I tried adding, and this let me do quite a bit of practice. 
> > 
> > The Selmer Goldentone is a dud but it is finished beautifully in my opinion. Now I hate to say this, but the finishing in terms of evenness looks much better than not only some Babbit mouthpieces, but some mouthpieces hand made by people. (did I mention I was humble?)
> > 
> > To the point, I spent a lot of time on the piece and worked and undid and worked and undid over a period of about a week or two to make sure it was physically beautiful. When I look at it, the cleanliness to the work reminds me of those Aizen mouthpieces every seems to love. I was proud, until I slapped the reed on. 
> > 
> > When I buzz on just the mouthpiece I'll notice its very free blowing and clean, but there seems to be some gaps. I'll play for 4 seconds and then it stops, and then I reblow and similar results happen. I put it on the tenor and it plays some notes but nothing in the extreme like very low notes. I understand that this is no surprise because this piece was designed to, well, look good! Does anyone know what aspects could likely cause these problems? The chamber is medium by the way. Thin rails, no baffle, medium chamber, and unfortunately I did not use any meausuring tools and I don't have any so I don't know the tip. If it is the tip, would you guess to small or too big (I would guess small) and how would I make it bigger?
> >
>

Live webcam showing mod work including mouthpieces.

remove the space from after each period in the web address.

www.martinmods.com/webcam.html



      

Call me cheap, but I don't like buying those overpriced little vinyl patches
that (for me) don't last very long, and that I can only get by mail order.

So far I've found 2 inexpensive substitutes that work pretty well.

1. 3/4" Dymo label tape - makes a durable patch with a hard surface.  I
think a roll was about $17 w. shipping, and has to be good for a few hundred
patches. 
2. The scotch tape for gift wrapping - comes in a little block 3/4" x 2" - I
cut each block in half and trim with a razor blade to shape and then peel
off 2-3 layers at a time  for a softer mouthpiece patch.


Any other good solutions out there?
Tire patch kits any good?

Barry

 Electricians tape is good for at least a couple of weeks
 Some super thin tire patches work but they tend to wear through fast
  I found a roll of clear stuff that was meant to apply to down hill skis to protect them. I think I have  a life- time supply as long as it doesn't deteriorate. I've had the roll over ten years and it still works.  Peter


      

How about something like this? 

http://www.findtape.com/shop/product.aspx?id=173&bc=F&utm_campaign=Google-Product-Search&utm_medium=directory&utm_source=Google-Base&setscreen=1&width=1229&height=846 


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Peter Deley" <pfdeley@...> 
To: MouthpieceWork@yahoogroups.com 
Sent: Tuesday, November 24, 2009 1:10:56 PM GMT -06:00 US/Canada Central 
Subject: Re: [MouthpieceWork] Mouthpiece patches 







Electricians tape is good for at least a couple of weeks 
Some super thin tire patches work but they tend to wear through fast 
I found a roll of clear stuff that was meant to apply to down hill skis to protect them. I think I have a life- time supply as long as it doesn't deteriorate. I've had the roll over ten years and it still works. Peter 

Sure looks good

> From: dhaining@...
> Reply-To: MouthpieceWork@yahoogroups.com
> Date: Tue, 24 Nov 2009 21:07:03 +0000 (UTC)
> To: MouthpieceWork@yahoogroups.com
> Subject: Re: [MouthpieceWork] Mouthpiece patches
> 
> 
>  
> How about something like this?
> 
> http://www.findtape.com/shop/product.aspx?id=173&bc=F&utm_campaign=Google-Prod
> uct-Search&utm_medium=directory&utm_source=Google-Base&setscreen=1&width=1229&
> height=846
> 
> 
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Peter Deley" <pfdeley@...>
> To: MouthpieceWork@yahoogroups.com
> Sent: Tuesday, November 24, 2009 1:10:56 PM GMT -06:00 US/Canada Central
> Subject: Re: [MouthpieceWork] Mouthpiece patches
> 
>  
>  Electricians tape is good for at least a couple of weeks
>  Some super thin tire patches work but they tend to wear through fast
>   I found a roll of clear stuff that was meant to apply to down hill skis to
> protect them. I think I have  a life- time supply as long as it doesn't
> deteriorate. I've had the roll over ten years and it still works.  Peter
> 
> 
> 
> 

I have had clients try a mouthpiece with a certain MP patch and they were so-so about the mouthpiece. I changed the patch to a different thickness and they loved the MP. So I am thinking that each player that uses a patch has a big prejudice about the material and thickness of the patch they use.

Mike Vaccaro

Hal> I like to make them out of bike tubes.  I trace the beak with a wax 
pencil.  Then I cut it out.  I don't want a 90 degree angle. It takes a 
sharp pair of scissors.  You hold them flat while cutting.  This makes 
the cut closer to a 45 degree angle.

Mike Vaccaro wrote:
>
> I have had clients try a mouthpiece with a certain MP patch and they 
> were so-so about the mouthpiece. I changed the patch to a different 
> thickness and they loved the MP. So I am thinking that each player 
> that uses a patch has a big prejudice about the material and thickness 
> of the patch they use.
> Mike Vaccaro
> 
>

For me some mouthpieces work well with thick patches, some with thin and some don't need anything.  

--- In MouthpieceWork@yahoogroups.com, "Mike Vaccaro" <mike@...> wrote:
>
> I have had clients try a mouthpiece with a certain MP patch and they were so-so about the mouthpiece. I changed the patch to a different thickness and they loved the MP. So I am thinking that each player that uses a patch has a big prejudice about the material and thickness of the patch they use.
> 
> Mike Vaccaro
>