[Raphael Nonsenso]

A bit of a newbie question here...

Have just bought an ebonite Meyer 8m off the web (from a decent retailer with a shop front) (having tried it at a workshop thingy some months back). In terms of worksmanship, the only mouthpiece I can really compare it to is one of the Yamaha basics, but I'm not convinced about its quality.

The side rails seem slightly asymmetrically curved, the forward-facing part of the tip rail seems to be slightly worn away, and the baffle also appears to have been scratched, and even eaten away slightly along the edges (these scratches have left a brown colour).

Considering this is a brand new mouthpiece, is this to be expected? It's certainly not what I've noticed with other mouthpieces...

Thanks!

 

[gary]

A Considering this is a brand new mouthpiece, is this to be expected? It's certainly not what I've noticed with other mouthpieces...

No. A brand new Meyer should be bright and shiny.

But if this is the same mpc you played at a workshop earlier then are you expecing it to look brand new? It's probably been used as a demo mpc., in which case you should be getting it at a discount. Also, if you already tried it, why did you buy it if you had misgivings about it?

Bottom line - if it plays well and you got it at a decent discount, then I wouldn't worry about it. If you get a mpc that works well for you, consider yourself lucky, have fun with it, and enjoy playing it.

 

[Michael Ward]

Raphael what most players will ask you is " how does it play?" If it plays well with a variety of your preferred reeds it could be a keeper if not then it could possibly be " new" but it's been trialled a lot and returned because it doesn't play well and sold on again until someone keeps it.
Some very expensive hand made pieces look a bit rough to the eye having been tweeked until they play however new Meyers look " new" so why doesn't this?
The brown colour is a sign of decent rubber. The Yamaha is probably plastic.

 

[Raphael Nonsenso]

This workshop was completely seperate - just got a chance to try out a selection of mouthpiece/reed/ligature combinations with some pros.

I think this must have been a show-piece (although you're right that I ought to bear in mind the differences between ebonite and plastic).

The sellers were very nice when I called them. Said they'd take it back and compare it to their other warehouse models, and contact me from there.

Thanks for your help!