Mouthpiece Gauges
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Keilwerth saxes (S/A/T), Selmer clarinets (S/B), Altus Azumi flute
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Theo's gauges are fine, but you can find comparable general-use depth gauges for considerably less money.
Keilwerth saxes (S/A/T), Selmer clarinets (S/B), Altus Azumi flute
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Many of them would work (I think Mojo once mentioned that he uses a Vernier gauge), but, FWIW, I bought and use this one, mostly because it allows you to mount the gauge itself on the end of the bar, to deal with longer mouthpieces/facings.
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The best gauges I've used were the Mojo feeler gauges he sold for a few years--those are outstanding. Theo's gauges are a nice option.
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What Mouthpiece gauges do you mean?
His glass gauge for measuring the facing or his tip opening gauge?
I have his glass gauge and don't rate the quality of it.
Marking are wearing off after only a small amount of use.
And the measurements don't compare well with other glass gauges.
I made a simple tip opening guage that is quite accurate from a cheapo tire tread guage and a piece of Brass.
Keilwerth saxes (S/A/T), Selmer clarinets (S/B), Altus Azumi flute
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Good point! I just assumed the OP meant his tip opening gauge (i.e., not the feeler gauges or glass gauge).
For feeler gauges, I just use the standard stainless automotive ones (much cheaper).
FWIW, I have a newer version of Theo's glass gauge, and it's pretty high quality. The markings are etched and reasonably deep.
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Feeler gauges for autos are fine but variance increases dramatically as you stack them. Single thick gauges are a necessity and not part of auto kits.
also, dont expect accurate readings on tables that have not been flattened. Readings chnge depending on where you apply pressure.
also, dont expect accurate readings on tables that have not been flattened. Readings chnge depending on where you apply pressure.
Keilwerth saxes (S/A/T), Selmer clarinets (S/B), Altus Azumi flute
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Right. I don't stack them.
Instead I got the thicker ones in a kit from MusicMedic. That kit is inexpensive, but the feelers are not stainless and the numbers are silkscreened on rather than etched, so I only use the largest sizes.
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I got a couple of Theo Wanne glass gauges 2-3 years ago. They work fine as a reed-working palette... But as a mouthpiece gauge they are not usable. The lines are marked inaccurately (they are about 1-2 mm too wide - 30 on the gauge reads 16mm instead of 15). And the lines are very thick, making it harder to get an accurate reading.
The ones Mojo used to sell, the LAW gauges, are quite good, though the markings are a bit faint. Not sure if these are still available. The simple basic ones from JJ Babbitt are actually just fine.
Regarding the feelers, for the thicker sizes I bought some quite expensive feelers from Eastern Gage (Feeler Gages and Custom Feeler Gauges from Eastern Industries) 10 or 12 years ago, they are very good. But a cheaper alternative is to buy a set of Pin Gauges, which you can find on Amazon for about $50. These also work well to measure the tip opening, you just have to be careful where on the tip rail the gauge hits. They give me the same values that a dial indicator (or the tire gauge thingy above) does, with much less hassle. The smaller sizes are cheaper, but you can use the standard automotive gauges for that, which is even less.
The ones Mojo used to sell, the LAW gauges, are quite good, though the markings are a bit faint. Not sure if these are still available. The simple basic ones from JJ Babbitt are actually just fine.
Regarding the feelers, for the thicker sizes I bought some quite expensive feelers from Eastern Gage (Feeler Gages and Custom Feeler Gauges from Eastern Industries) 10 or 12 years ago, they are very good. But a cheaper alternative is to buy a set of Pin Gauges, which you can find on Amazon for about $50. These also work well to measure the tip opening, you just have to be careful where on the tip rail the gauge hits. They give me the same values that a dial indicator (or the tire gauge thingy above) does, with much less hassle. The smaller sizes are cheaper, but you can use the standard automotive gauges for that, which is even less.
Keilwerth saxes (S/A/T), Selmer clarinets (S/B), Altus Azumi flute
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Huh. Maybe he changed his manufacturing process or sourcing since you bought yours. I bought mine about a year and a half ago, and I just checked the accuracy. As you can see in the picture below, mine is accurate to within 0.5 mm at the ends of the rule (i.e., from 0 to 70).
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This was my experience with the Wanne glass gauge also.
Got mine about 2.5 years ago.
Feeler gauges are pretty ordinary too.
Cheap auto shop gauges seem much better quality.
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Yeah, that looks very different than the two that I got. Good news!!
Keilwerth saxes (S/A/T), Selmer clarinets (S/B), Altus Azumi flute
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For the OP, here's a picture of the depth gauge that I linked to, being used to measure the tip opening of a clarinet mouthpiece that happened to be near my bench (a Vandoren B45 Lyre) :
![4774]()
You can also switch the display to thousandths of an inch. I put it on the mm readout here because that's how Vandoren characterizes its tip openings.
You can also switch the display to thousandths of an inch. I put it on the mm readout here because that's how Vandoren characterizes its tip openings.
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