[Carl H2O]

Hi,
just curious whether there is anyone else that plays a Brilhart tenor mpc for concert band? I have an excellent Great Neck Tonalin #3 (56xxx) that I prefer to a Selmer S80. Only drawback is that it sits a little to far out on the neck to my liking. I use it on a Barone Vintage, sadly enough it does not work at all on my Big B, built only a couple of years later than the mpc. I have no clue to why - any input appreciated on that, too!

 

[jgreiner]

Absolutely no reason why you shouldn't be able to use the Brilhart. A 3 is not a huge tip opening. I'd wager it's comparable to the S80 which is probably a C*, right? The reason it sits "out" further on your neck is because the mouthpiece is most likely quite a bit shorter. Sit them on a table (sitting vertically) side by side and you'll see what I mean. The difference in length will be how much further the Tonalin will need to be further out on the neck. There's also a possibility the chamber size is slightly different, causing a different airflow from you that would also affect the tuning and placement of the 'piece on your neck.

 

[Reet McVouty]

What difference does it make how far in or out the mouthpiece sits on the neck? As long as it's stable and you're in tune it shouldn't be of any concern.

 

[Carl H2O]

The tip opening is basically the same when comparing the S80 C* and Brilhart side by side, haven’t measured though. These Great Neck NY are supposed to have a little larger tip opening according to Theo Wanne’s web page but I guess old Brilharts are inconsistent. I use RJS 4s and Vandoren ZZ 3.5, have used Legere Signature 2.75 in the past but prefer cane here. But stability is an issue since I also play a metal Link and a M Fry Rhodium that need to be pushed further in on the neck.

 

[Alain Gen]

If the issue is that the cork on your neck is already compressed by your other mouthpieces, you can use teflon tape when you want to play the Brilhart. If you prefer a more permanent solution, it is possible to extend the shank.

 

[turf3]

I believe that unfortunately the Brilharts are amongst the mouthpieces where the manufacturer did not ream the bore, but just left it as molded, thus conical in shape. This means the further you push it on, the more it compresses the cork (and later, when you need to tune down, it'll be loose) and also creates very high hoop stresses which probably accounts for the frequency of cracks in these.

The solution is to get an adjustable blade reamer and ream the bore like should have been done at the factory.

Unfortunately if you need to swap back and forth between mouthpieces of different bore sizes, you'll need to ream them all to the largest size. Fortunately this will have no effect on the MP other than making all yours the same bore size.