Hi All,

I've been a member of this group for a while just lurking around and listening. Now aside from saying hi I have 2 questions for the group.

I use mostly crystal mouthpieces on my clarinet starting from the 1960's when I had an O'Brien OB that I bought on 42 st New York. I took a 40 year hiatus from playing clarinet and sax and just went back about 2 years ago. It's been hard but technique is back and even better than when I played in my 20's and my embouchure is almost back. Well sort of almost back .

One of my problems was and is getting the right mouthpiece. I own a Patricola Rosewood clarinet and of course crystal looks the best on that horn. I purchased an old O'Brien from a local music store. It's the Fossenkemper model. It was designed by O'Brien as a signature mouthpiece for Marius Fossenkemper many moons ago. It has a really wide opening and for the first year I used that. I had to use reeds of like a 1 or 1 ½ strength to get a sound from it. 

During that time I also tried some hard rubber and plastic mouthpieces that I got from a local store as well (some used and one new). I tried a Runyon model 22 clear with a #5 opening and it is pretty close to the Fossenkemper. Being that I want crystal I recently bought a Selmer Pete Fountain Crystal with an L3 face (I don't know what that means) and a 1.23 opening. I'm starting to get used to this one and find I can use a 3 to 3 ½.

So many words later here are my questions: 
Has anyone here used a Runyon? I spoke to them this week and they are going to send me a red classic (hopefully that color will look good with the Patricola) with a #6 opening and their spoiler to try. If I like it I'll buy it and they will also reface the model 22 to match the classic.

I built a tip measuring gauge like the Theo Wann gage. It works great but I'm not too sure how and where to put the gauge to get the proper reading of the tip opening.  Can anyone help me with this?

BTW if you interested in seeing the Patricola here are some picts of it. http://www.jingledoctor.com/clairnet/. Please excuse the spelling of Clarinet. I did it in a rush and carried the typo over when I shouldn't have

Thanks,

Steve

Hey Steve,

Runyon makes a good product and they will definitely work with you to 
get the results you want.  Or you can work with Paul Coates who posts on 
this chat regularly and does consulting with Runyon.  He has an uncanny 
ability to zero in on your needs through a fairly simple conversation 
about your playing style.


On 3/20/2011 12:22 AM, stevethemusicman wrote:
>
> Hi All,
>
> I've been a member of this group for a while just lurking around and 
> listening. Now aside from saying hi I have 2 questions for the group.
>
> I use mostly crystal mouthpieces on my clarinet starting from the 
> 1960's when I had an O'Brien OB that I bought on 42 st New York. I 
> took a 40 year hiatus from playing clarinet and sax and just went back 
> about 2 years ago. It's been hard but technique is back and even 
> better than when I played in my 20's and my embouchure is almost back. 
> Well sort of almost back .
>
> One of my problems was and is getting the right mouthpiece. I own a 
> Patricola Rosewood clarinet and of course crystal looks the best on 
> that horn. I purchased an old O'Brien from a local music store. It's 
> the Fossenkemper model. It was designed by O'Brien as a signature 
> mouthpiece for Marius Fossenkemper many moons ago. It has a really 
> wide opening and for the first year I used that. I had to use reeds of 
> like a 1 or 1 � strength to get a sound from it.
>
> During that time I also tried some hard rubber and plastic mouthpieces 
> that I got from a local store as well (some used and one new). I tried 
> a Runyon model 22 clear with a #5 opening and it is pretty close to 
> the Fossenkemper. Being that I want crystal I recently bought a Selmer 
> Pete Fountain Crystal with an L3 face (I don't know what that means) 
> and a 1.23 opening. I'm starting to get used to this one and find I 
> can use a 3 to 3 �.
>
> So many words later here are my questions:
> Has anyone here used a Runyon? I spoke to them this week and they are 
> going to send me a red classic (hopefully that color will look good 
> with the Patricola) with a #6 opening and their spoiler to try. If I 
> like it I'll buy it and they will also reface the model 22 to match 
> the classic.
>
> I built a tip measuring gauge like the Theo Wann gage. It works great 
> but I'm not too sure how and where to put the gauge to get the proper 
> reading of the tip opening. Can anyone help me with this?
>
> BTW if you interested in seeing the Patricola here are some picts of 
> it. http://www.jingledoctor.com/clairnet/. Please excuse the spelling 
> of Clarinet. I did it in a rush and carried the typo over when I 
> shouldn't have
>
> Thanks,
>
> Steve
>
> 

Thanks Robert, 

 

Paul is the one I’m working with. Glad to hear some good feedback. Thanks,


Steve

 

From: MouthpieceWork@yahoogroups.com [mailto:MouthpieceWork@yahoogroups.com]
On Behalf Of Robert W. Smith
Sent: Sunday, March 20, 2011 1:53 AM
To: MouthpieceWork@yahoogroups.com
Cc: stevethemusicman
Subject: Re: [MouthpieceWork] Crystal and Runyon Mouthpieces

 



Hey Steve,

Runyon makes a good product and they will definitely work with you to get
the results you want.  Or you can work with Paul Coates who posts on this
chat regularly and does consulting with Runyon.  He has an uncanny ability
to zero in on your needs through a fairly simple conversation about your
playing style.


On 3/20/2011 12:22 AM, stevethemusicman wrote: 

  

Hi All,

I've been a member of this group for a while just lurking around and
listening. Now aside from saying hi I have 2 questions for the group.

I use mostly crystal mouthpieces on my clarinet starting from the 1960's
when I had an O'Brien OB that I bought on 42 st New York. I took a 40 year
hiatus from playing clarinet and sax and just went back about 2 years ago.
It's been hard but technique is back and even better than when I played in
my 20's and my embouchure is almost back. Well sort of almost back .

One of my problems was and is getting the right mouthpiece. I own a
Patricola Rosewood clarinet and of course crystal looks the best on that
horn. I purchased an old O'Brien from a local music store. It's the
Fossenkemper model. It was designed by O'Brien as a signature mouthpiece for
Marius Fossenkemper many moons ago. It has a really wide opening and for the
first year I used that. I had to use reeds of like a 1 or 1 ½ strength to
get a sound from it. 

During that time I also tried some hard rubber and plastic mouthpieces that
I got from a local store as well (some used and one new). I tried a Runyon
model 22 clear with a #5 opening and it is pretty close to the Fossenkemper.
Being that I want crystal I recently bought a Selmer Pete Fountain Crystal
with an L3 face (I don't know what that means) and a 1.23 opening. I'm
starting to get used to this one and find I can use a 3 to 3 ½.

So many words later here are my questions: 
Has anyone here used a Runyon? I spoke to them this week and they are going
to send me a red classic (hopefully that color will look good with the
Patricola) with a #6 opening and their spoiler to try. If I like it I'll buy
it and they will also reface the model 22 to match the classic.

I built a tip measuring gauge like the Theo Wann gage. It works great but
I'm not too sure how and where to put the gauge to get the proper reading of
the tip opening. Can anyone help me with this?

BTW if you interested in seeing the Patricola here are some picts of it.
http://www.jingledoctor.com/clairnet/.
<http://www.jingledoctor.com/clairnet/>  Please excuse the spelling of
Clarinet. I did it in a rush and carried the typo over when I shouldn't have

Thanks,

Steve

Most refacers, and I think most mouthpiece makers, use a tip gage to measure 
inside the center of the tip rail.  If you consider the wand gage design that 
some use, it can only measure inside the tip rail.  


A lot of mouthpieces vary so much it is difficult to reverse engineer where the 
manufacturing targets are.  But after measuring many mouthpieces, I'm pretty 
sure the specs published by Vandoren, Selmer, and Links are for tip measurements 
at the very tip.

If the tip rail is thin, the readings may only differ by .002".  But for the 
more common tip rail thicknesses, they can differ by .004"-.006" on sax 
mouthpieces.  Typically .003" on clarinet.  




________________________________
From: stevethemusicman <yhgroups@...>
To: MouthpieceWork@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Sun, March 20, 2011 1:22:15 AM
Subject: [MouthpieceWork] Crystal and Runyon Mouthpieces

  
I built a tip measuring gauge like the Theo Wann gage. It works great but I'm 
not too sure how and where to put the gauge to get the proper reading of the tip 
opening. Can anyone help me with this?


      

--- In MouthpieceWork@yahoogroups.com, "Robert W. Smith" <rwpsmith@...> wrote:
>
> Hey Steve,
> 
> Runyon makes a good product and they will definitely work with you to 
> get the results you want.  Or you can work with Paul Coates who posts on 
> this chat regularly and does consulting with Runyon.  He has an uncanny 
> ability to zero in on your needs through a fairly simple conversation 
> about your playing style.


Thanks for the compliment, Robert.  Truth be told, every once in a while I miss one.  You can't please everyone, but I try.

Paul

I also custom build/fit golf clubs.  The number of people who've done no 
work on their swing since beginners lessons and are looking for a 
"magic" driver is just staggering.  (and lucrative) I've found that when 
people actually know exactly what they want or can describe to me what 
they want to accomplish after I've viewed their swing, I have an almost 
100% success rate.

I've found the same to be true with woodwind players.  Every shop needs 
a sign that says  "there's NO substitute for chops!"

On 3/21/2011 5:01 PM, tenorman1952 wrote:
>
>
>
> --- In MouthpieceWork@yahoogroups.com 
> <mailto:MouthpieceWork%40yahoogroups.com>, "Robert W. Smith" 
> <rwpsmith@...> wrote:
> >
> > Hey Steve,
> >
> > Runyon makes a good product and they will definitely work with you to
> > get the results you want. Or you can work with Paul Coates who posts on
> > this chat regularly and does consulting with Runyon. He has an uncanny
> > ability to zero in on your needs through a fairly simple conversation
> > about your playing style.
>
> Thanks for the compliment, Robert. Truth be told, every once in a 
> while I miss one. You can't please everyone, but I try.
>
> Paul
>
>