I just bought a cheap contrabass clarinet blank to open up.  My other pieces have tips from .075 (original Leblanc) to .085 (Conn Precision) and I'd like to try a larger tip opening.  The curves on the pieces that I have are quite irregular.  I know that "lumpy" facings are not uncommon based on looking at the soprano clarinet curves in the files section.  But my pieces are also irregular from side-to-side, especially at the .0015 gauge.  I'm reluctant to extrapolate from those curves to create a new facing.

Does anybody have Brand numbers for a contrabass?  All I could find in searching the old MouthpieceWork files was that somebody had asked years ago and there was no response.

Mark

I do not have any measurement data.  But as you said, measurements often contain irregularities.  I can probably calculate a decent curve for you.  A classical baritone sax facing would probably work well.

PayPal as "Personal" to: sabradbury79@...
Checks made out to "Keith W. Bradbury"
Mail to:
Mojo Mouthpiece Work LLC
2925 Crane St.
Vineland, NJ 08361

On Jun 11, 2013, at 1:40 PM, "Mark" <marklfleming@...> wrote:

> I just bought a cheap contrabass clarinet blank to open up. My other pieces have tips from .075 (original Leblanc) to .085 (Conn Precision) and I'd like to try a larger tip opening. The curves on the pieces that I have are quite irregular. I know that "lumpy" facings are not uncommon based on looking at the soprano clarinet curves in the files section. But my pieces are also irregular from side-to-side, especially at the .0015 gauge. I'm reluctant to extrapolate from those curves to create a new facing.
> 
> Does anybody have Brand numbers for a contrabass? All I could find in searching the old MouthpieceWork files was that somebody had asked years ago and there was no response.
> 
> Mark
> 
> 

Thanks, Keith.  That was my fall back position.  Use the closest Link baritone sax curves in the Files section as a starting point.  I'll compare the two reeds and see if that gives me any clue as to whether a baritone curve is long enough.  I also thought that the soprano clarinet curves seemed to ease off a little towards the tip as compared to a sax.  Not flat, but a less aggressive curve.  I only paid $20 for the blank, but I'd like to get something that might help me tweak my other pieces.

--- In MouthpieceWork@yahoogroups.com, Keith Bradbury <kwbradbury@...> wrote:
>
> I do not have any measurement data.  But as you said, measurements often contain irregularities.  I can probably calculate a decent curve for you.  A classical baritone sax facing would probably work well.
> 
> PayPal as "Personal" to: sabradbury79@...
> Checks made out to "Keith W. Bradbury"
> Mail to:
> Mojo Mouthpiece Work LLC
> 2925 Crane St.
> Vineland, NJ 08361
> 
> On Jun 11, 2013, at 1:40 PM, "Mark" <marklfleming@...> wrote:
> 
> > I just bought a cheap contrabass clarinet blank to open up. My other pieces have tips from .075 (original Leblanc) to .085 (Conn Precision) and I'd like to try a larger tip opening. The curves on the pieces that I have are quite irregular. I know that "lumpy" facings are not uncommon based on looking at the soprano clarinet curves in the files section. But my pieces are also irregular from side-to-side, especially at the .0015 gauge. I'm reluctant to extrapolate from those curves to create a new facing.
> > 
> > Does anybody have Brand numbers for a contrabass? All I could find in searching the old MouthpieceWork files was that somebody had asked years ago and there was no response.
> > 
> > Mark
> > 
> >
>

--- In MouthpieceWork@yahoogroups.com, "Mark" <marklfleming@...> wrote:
>
> Does anybody have Brand numbers for a contrabass?  All I could find in searching the old MouthpieceWork files was that somebody had asked years ago and there was no response. < 


Contra mouthpieces that come with used instruments (almost all from schools) are battered beyond recognition.

Unfortunately, almost all new ones are unplayable, too.  For example, Selmer's equipment has become worn and is very far out of adjustment.  Unlike the case with soprano clarinet mouthpieces, they sell so few that they could never recover the cost of re-tooling.  In fact, they probably have a 100 year supply of NOS.

Walter Grabner makes superb new ones http://www.clarinetxpress.com/mouthpieces.html.  They're expensive, but they're also in a class by themselves.

Clark Fobes makes them http://www.clarkwfobes.com/clarinets_low.html, including some in plastic that are not too expensive and will give you the measurements you need.

The old metal Leblanc BBb contras came with a wide mouthpiece that used Vandoren Contrabass reeds.  The Leblanc and Selmer Eb contra mouthpieces used Vandoren bass sax reeds.  Along the way, maybe 30 years ago, Leblanc narrowed the BBb mouthpiece to match the Eb, but it didn't work well.  I asked the Leblanc rep why they changed, and he replied that female players couldn't fit the wide mouthpiece in their mouths.

Grabner's BBb mouthpiece is also the "narrow" design, but he's solved the problem by altering the baffle.

For contra, the reed needs to be as soft as possible -- just hard enough to work without producing a flapping sound on low notes.  You don't play contra for the high notes anyway, unless you're Terje Lerstad.

Grabner and Fobes may not be willing to disclose their proprietary information about curves, but there's no harm in asking.

Ken Shaw

I've got a Grabner piece that I could copy, but I was looking to try something new and different.  Plus, the .0015 gauge is really uneven side-to-side on the Grabner.  I doubt that is by design.  I just picked up another no-name BBb piece, so now I have even more material to work with.  

I hadn't really compared the tip widths of the new pieces that I picked up.  Both my Leblanc and the Zinner blank used by Grabner are wide enough for the wider VanDoren and Legere contrabass reeds and I don't like the fit of the Rico reeds on them.  I was worried a few years back that Vandoren might stop making the wide contrabass reeds, so I bought quite a few boxes on the cheap.  Looking at the present Ebay prices ($10 per reed), my reed collection might be worth more than my mouthpieces.

--- In MouthpieceWork@yahoogroups.com, "Kenneth" <kkshaw43@...> wrote:
>
> 
> 
> --- In MouthpieceWork@yahoogroups.com, "Mark" <marklfleming@> wrote:
> >
> > Does anybody have Brand numbers for a contrabass?  All I could find in searching the old MouthpieceWork files was that somebody had asked years ago and there was no response. < 
> 
> 
> Contra mouthpieces that come with used instruments (almost all from schools) are battered beyond recognition.
> 
> Unfortunately, almost all new ones are unplayable, too.  For example, Selmer's equipment has become worn and is very far out of adjustment.  Unlike the case with soprano clarinet mouthpieces, they sell so few that they could never recover the cost of re-tooling.  In fact, they probably have a 100 year supply of NOS.
> 
> Walter Grabner makes superb new ones http://www.clarinetxpress.com/mouthpieces.html.  They're expensive, but they're also in a class by themselves.
> 
> Clark Fobes makes them http://www.clarkwfobes.com/clarinets_low.html, including some in plastic that are not too expensive and will give you the measurements you need.
> 
> The old metal Leblanc BBb contras came with a wide mouthpiece that used Vandoren Contrabass reeds.  The Leblanc and Selmer Eb contra mouthpieces used Vandoren bass sax reeds.  Along the way, maybe 30 years ago, Leblanc narrowed the BBb mouthpiece to match the Eb, but it didn't work well.  I asked the Leblanc rep why they changed, and he replied that female players couldn't fit the wide mouthpiece in their mouths.
> 
> Grabner's BBb mouthpiece is also the "narrow" design, but he's solved the problem by altering the baffle.
> 
> For contra, the reed needs to be as soft as possible -- just hard enough to work without producing a flapping sound on low notes.  You don't play contra for the high notes anyway, unless you're Terje Lerstad.
> 
> Grabner and Fobes may not be willing to disclose their proprietary information about curves, but there's no harm in asking.
> 
> Ken Shaw
>