Good Classical Bass Clarinet Mouthpiece?

[woodwindmaster06]

I am tring to find a good bass clarinet classical mouthpiece any suggestions?

[MS]

Bill Street of Gorham Maine can make you a classical or jazz bass mps or rework one that you may have. Call him and tell him what you want:
(207) - 839 - 2231

[woodwindmaster06]

Thanks

[Bootman]

Also speak to Charles Bay and Ed Pillinger.

Ed Pillinger is in England.

[woodwindmaster06]

What is the best mass produced classical piece?

[super20dan]

vandoreen

[Merlin]

What is the best mass produced classical piece?

Vandoren B40.

[woodwindmaster06]

anyone try the Selmer C85?

[David Spiegelthal]

In no particular order: Clark Fobes, David Hite, Charles Bay, Walter Grabner, Roger Garrett, Pomarico, Selmer C*, Vandoren B45

[Bootman]

I was digging in the mpc drawers and discovered that I still have an as brand new Vandoren A3 Crystal Bass mpc here. This could be had for cheap if you're interested.

[Wicked Good]

I'm really impressed with the Ridenour HR bass clarinet mouthpieces for symphonic and chamber playing. I A/B'd a couple against some nice Pomarico crystal bass clarinet moupieces and ended up choosing a Ridenour. Nice, dark tone; plenty of projection; it's a great piece for my Buffet bass clarinet.

[woodwindmaster06]

how did the pomarico play?

[Wicked Good]

The Pomarico crystal was very bright. It would have been excellent for pit bands or jazz, but I was looking for a darker sounding mouthpiece suitable for use in a symphony orchestra.

It had tremendously good response, though, and the intonation was fine. Just too bright for my taste.

[woodwindmaster06]

If anyone has any experience with Bay mouthpieces or Clarke W Fobes mouthpieces can you give me some insight on how they are.

[RS]

I have a couple of Bay's pieces. Both were custom ordered and are very open, so they're probably not suitable for some classical playing. A little too bright and edgy. But they have a very good response and are very free-blowing. Can play pretty loud too. Good for jazz, doubling, maybe community bands, etc. But for a richer darker sound I would use my Selmer H which is a little less open. The smaller tip Bay's might work for classical too. Haven't tried the Fobes.

[AMASAX]

Selmer C-85, hard to beat, is cheap, comes in 3 facings, and sounds as good, or better, than the 'specialist' mthpces(of which i have most of).

Get a few mail order & find one you like.

[JJiimm]

Yes I agree with AMASAX..I have a Selmer C85 105 opening, that I bought from WWBrasswind 6 years ago, I can get up to High C, six spaces above the staff with it, on my old used Vito..Last month I ordered another C85 105, for backup, from WWBrasswind, and it was a disaster, two thin rails that were not symetrical, would not play, I sent it back..The package it came in had been opened before..So be careful, that you don't get the one that I had!
If there was a way to match the one I have, I would get another one!
JJiimm

[AMASAX]

yeah, to amplify on the 'mail order' trial, since these babies may have been cherry picked, it's important to order as many as you can so that you have a decent chance of getting a good one. Then, another thing I do is wait 6-9 months, then order up a second batch, as if you DO decide these mthpces are good, you've GOTTA have AT LEAST one backup. When you get a pro setup, what you'll find is that the mthpce is the most important and the weakest link in the chain. If you throw enuf $$ at it, you can find another horn similar to whatever you like, but you can't always find another mthpce made just like your favorite.
Mthpce specs/manufacturing comes & goes, so don't assume a C-85 today is like one 10 yrs from now, or that Selmer will even be producing these at that time.
If you end up doing a lot(or significant) of bass clarinet playing, you might wanna even order several backups(over time), as you'll wanna have more than one backup, plus you never know if you'll end up teaching and wanna spread 'em around a bit to your students.

[woodwindmaster06]

It sounds like everyone here likes them a lot and I am going to look into getting some from my local music store, so I can try it first.

[Tim Price]

Jimmy Yan- In NYC-
He'll make a bass cla. mouthpiece with Joe Allards facing-EXACT.
He did one for me and it is the best yet.