From: "Bruce Abbott"
Date: Sun, 26 Jun 2005
16:42:37 -0500
Subject: EEb contra alto
clarinets and Fobes mouthpieces
Hi, folks,
Well, here it is summertime, and a
middle-aged man's thoughts turn to (return to) (continue to obsess
upon) EEb contra alto clarinets. I'll be looking hard for a good
used Leblanc 350 paperclip in the fall. Prudence suggests that I
play before I pay, so I plan to interview the candidates in
person. Trouble is, I have never played any clarinet lower that
bass down to Eb. A Yamaha YCL221 BC, with Grabner CXBB
mouthpiece, has been my constant companion for the last two years - so
I'm very comfortable with that setup.
But I want to have some additional
context in which to place the 350 paperclips that I audition. So
my plan is to borrow a local school contra alto for the summer, and buy
a top-of-the-line mouthpiece for it. Then, I'll be able to take a
familiar mouthpiece on my search.
I've settled on the Fobes San Francisco
as the piece I want for the 350 paperclip. First, I want to make
sure which model of Fobes SF
to buy. My reading of Web archives suggests, I think, that the
San Francisco BBb contra bass mouthpiece works well on the both the
Leblanc BBb and EEb paperclips, because they have the same bore.
Can some of you let me know if I'm headed
in the right direction here?
Unfortunately, the school horns that (may
be) available to me do not include a paperclip. There's a
Selmer-Bundy 1440 contra alto, and a straight Leblanc 352 contra
alto. Do you think the metal 352 might play the closest to the
350 paperclip? Is it reasonable to use a Fobes San Francisco BBb
mouthpiece on the 352? (How about on the Selmer 1440, if it comes
to that?)
I really want to own and be already
comfortable with the best possible (I know, your results may vary...)
mouthpiece before I test drive used 350 paperclips. Am I putting
together a pipe dream here?
Thanks,
Bruce
***End of Contrabass Digest***