[Giganova]

Hi all --

in one of the threads, Swampcabbage suggested that we should have a "Mouthpiece Museum".
I think this is a great idea so I jumped into action. I purchased the domain name

www.mouthpiecemuseum.com

(not active yet) plus hosting (10GB of storage, 1GB file transfer at any moment and unlimited email support). I chose eclipsehosting.com as host because I have great experience with them (zero downtime of my other websites over a 5 year period -- hard to beat!). I already paid for the first year of hosting so I don't have excuses not to get started .

So here is my idea, which is up for discussion, of course:

The "Mouthpiece Museum" will have information and pictures on all sorts of saxophone mouthpieces, sorted by manufacturer and saxophone type. It is intended as an educational and research tool to study and see different mpc designs, materials used, etc. The web site will feature information on historic and present-day mouthpieces and have pictures (hopefully hundreds!) that show the shape of each mouthpiece, baffle types, tips, rails, etc ... as detailed as possible. In addition, it will have measurements and a description of the sound, possibly with sound clips, and info on what famous players used these mouthpieces. The mouthpiece museum will be a non-profit web site with community interaction, but it will have no forum/board because nothing can beat our trusty SOTW. It will not be a platform to sell/trade mouthpieces.

As you can imagine, I will not be able to gather all the information on my own, so your support is needed!! However, I will organize our efforts and post everything on that web site in a nice design. You will be able to send me pictures, info, etc, to a dedicated email address ([email protected]).

So if you trust that I can pull it off, let's start the discussion how you envision such a "Mouthpiece Museum"!

Cheers,
Gig

 

[hakukani]

What a great idea, and thanks for getting it started. I can't wait.

 

[ThunderWhale]

Wow, this sounds like a great idea! I use Theo's website all the time to look up info about vintage pieces. I can't wait to see modern pieces and even more info on more pieces than Theo's website!

 

[Dr G]

Very cool, Gig, the mouthpiece analog of Saxpics.

Please consider establishing a format, ie, what views are useful, size of images, etc., as well as suggestions of how to best light the mouthpieces for high quality images. You may also consider whether to have editors to review the mouthpiece images for clarity and quality - that may be you, I s'pose.

I've a friend that has most of my ol' mouthpieces of the last 10 years as well as a few dozen more. This will be a great impetus for him to catalog, review, and capture his collection.

I look forward to sending the first pics of the Lamberson Fmaj7 (tenor, of course) - unless someone else out there already has one.

 

[CountSpatula]

Sweet Giga! Sounds great!

 

[tjontheroad]

Gig, great thing you're doing. Myself, I'd be very interested in the historical aspects of mouthpiece design and evolution. Something more than pictures.

Good luck

 

[fballatore]

Sounds like this is going to be a full time job for you Gig. Let me know if I can help you out with anything.

Frank

 

[heath]

I thought of this idea several months back when we were discussing the Dukoff Hollywoods. I didn't have the gumption to start my own site though.

My suggestion would be to make it open to all types of mouthpieces, including modified, extremely modified and refaced and reworked by a pro. Make this a real work shop for those that not only collect original mpcs, but also modify them to experiment with tonal possibilities with certain makes and models.

How do we send photos to you and how large/small does the file have to be.

This could be as big as saxpics as all of us have the requisite draw full of mouthpieces.

 

[Connical]

Great initiative ! My hats off to taking on a monster of a challenge.
I'll start shooting some pics, just let us know where to send them.

By the way, I assume you'll be including ligatures too ?

As for design and content, I'd prefer the main section to contain
mpc's that were/are standard designs that were/are available readily.
No one off's, I think the custom mpc's should have a section too, but I
would prefer the main body of it devoted to regular production pieces,
from both small (Individuals & Custom designers) and large providers.

 

[Swampcabbage]

Gig, you are a savior. I like the idea of heath's where you could possibly have a refacing section. This may open up the site for submissions by refacers themselves (Theo Wanne may be willing to give you a jump start with loaning his collection of pics). I won't speak for any of the makers but I'm sure many of them would probably be very cool with submitting some of their own detailed photo's provided there be a links page (not just for Links). I'm going to get to photographing some of my pieces as soon as possible.

I could also volunteer some time for assisting if you need. Thanks again. Cabbage

 

[Swampcabbage]

PS it may be a good idea to come up with a standard photo background. A printable sheet with metric and Imperial system guiding lines. Just a thought.

Which leads me to the next idea. Custom made reed trimmers for your mouthpiece of choice. Anyone?

 

[dirty]

Maybe this should be a wiki. That way, no single person is responsible for writing and publishing all of the information, but instead, editors can "fact check" for obvious errors. Statements that can be cited should be, either with links, text citations, or whatever else is available.

Wikipedia, for example, isn't perfect, but it's usually pretty close, and there's no other way to have a place with the breadth of information that's on there. Wikis tend to work well, mostly because most people who would take the time to post on one are genuinely interested in sharing what they know and learning what others know.

 

[bruce bailey]

Great idea. You might want to get one of the mouthpiece gurus to do measurements of the curves and tips for each model and facing (bazillions!). A standardized photo layout would be nice with a top, side, bottom and chamber photo. When you get going, we (I) can send a box of our "jeweljunk" to you. I would suggest a donor list of those of us who donate some $$$ to the site to help offset the time and effort you will be putting out.
Again, great idea.
One of my crazy ideas would be a saxjunkyard where someone gets old horns and parts given to them or for little money. Imagine one place where you can get a decent G# lever for a Conn No-wonder Bass sax!

 

[heath]

By the way, I assume you'll be including ligatures too ?

As for design and content, I'd prefer the main section to contain
mpc's that were/are standard designs that were/are available readily.
No one off's, I think the custom mpc's should have a section too, but I
would prefer the main body of it devoted to regular production pieces,
from both small (Individuals & Custom designers) and large providers.

I think the standard designs are great, but it would be nice to see the standard design and perhaps show the modified pieces beside it to show how we changed the piece to meet our tonal needs.

I have several modified metal yani pieces that would fit this bill. I can show how you can get rid of the harsh bottom notes on tenor and still keep the piece cracking tone wise up top. The problem with keeping the mouthpieces only standard is that many of us own these standard pieces and there's tons of pics of them on the net, but how many have you seen that have been modified and improved in some way?
It becomes an encyclopedia of tonal possibilities...a great tool for those looking for something different.

 

[johnnyc]

Many will be indebted to you for putting this together.

Just an idea...without creating a forum or polluting the primary focus, how about a link to player experience/feedback. With a standard format to capture relevant details (eg. tip opening, horn(s) used, etc.) one could get a sense of how various 'pieces play. I've tried using the "search" feature on SOTW with numerous filters to check out feedback on particular 'pieces only to have to plow through reams of who knows what.

If this idea dilutes (or disrupts) the intent...then nevermind.

 

[Benny]

Great idea. You might want to get one of the mouthpiece gurus to do measurements of the curves and tips for each model and facing (bazillions!). A standardized photo layout would be nice with a top, side, bottom and chamber photo. When you get going, we (I) can send a box of our "jeweljunk" to you. I would suggest a donor list of those of us who donate some $$$ to the site to help offset the time and effort you will be putting out.
Again, great idea.
One of my crazy ideas would be a saxjunkyard where someone gets old horns and parts given to them or for little money. Imagine one place where you can get a decent G# lever for a Conn No-wonder Bass sax!

Here in Oz there is chain of junkyards called 'Pick a Part,' where you pay an entry fee to a MASSIVE lot of wrecked cars. You simply find the right car and strip the part you need.
I recently thought, "somone should do this for vintage saxes"- buy wreck horns with the keywork intact and sell the parts. Lack of storage space and time put me off it, as well as the thought of the minefield of trying to calculate how much certain parts should be worth, let alone inventory everything.

 

[sambeaux]

The wiki is a good idea. We're going to be talking about dozens of mouthpieces with multiple pictures each. That is a lot for one person to handle. City wiki's are popping up more and more these days because there are so many angles to cover when making a webpage about a city. Here's one: http://seattle.wikia.com/wiki/Main_Page

It would truly be an important and historic project to pool our collective knowledge about mouthpieces and have that info available to the world.

 

[AG]

mouthpiece museum

oops, I thought this was about a real, physical bldg. type museum where all these fine, vintage pieces were on display.......I was gonna case the joint for a heist. darn

 

[Swampcabbage]

Note to self: Beware if AG volunteers to "photograph and analyze" my mouthpieces...

 

[AG]

lol, back to the drawing board

seriously though, I think it would be great to have a vintage mouthpiece section where one could get all sorts of info on old pieces at one place.