There are no equivalencies between sax and clarinet. All they have in common is the single reed. Your clarinet didn't come with a mouthpiece? Get a good, inexpensive, medium-opening mouthpiece, and start with a 2.5 reed, Vandoren is fine, there are others. If it's available in your area, the Fobes Debut is a great mouthpiece to start with. Vandoren 5RV is popular, but much more expensive. I'm sure others will have suggestions.

 

I am by no means an expert, but a lot of used clarinet mouthpieces are quite cheap. I found a Selmer C85 for 25€ that's my piece of choice (I'm mainly a sax player and interested in jazz, but clarinet mouthpieces are considerably flexible).
I bought and sold a number of Vandorens for 35-40€: B40 and B45... You may like them as much as the plethora of pro clarinetists that use them.

If you have some time to invest it's difficult to lose money in trying and then reselling a bunch of used pieces...

 

I started with the Morgan J series (J6) and played it for a couple years. Tried the Vandorens M13 and 5RLyre when I wanted to get serious. Ended up with a Richard Hawkins piece that I played for a couple years using V12 3 3 ½ reeds. I was attempting to be a real clarinet player - Unfortunately I started having neck issue (freakin back-pressure) So now I play OLD B45's with softish reeds and it's working extremely well.

Expect this journey to take a couple years but the right set-up will make clarinet playing much more rewarding.

 

Usually you can find cheap mouthpieces, at least in the US, at garage sales,pawn shops and the like. I picked up a set of 3, a Portnoy BP2, Selmer HS*, and Bonade clarinet mouthpieces for $5 from a retired clarinetist's wife's house cleaning sale. Of those three I would say I enjoy the Portnoy BP2 the most. I typically play with a Legere signature reed strength 3. Portnoys are pretty pricey bought new ~$75.

 

I play a Vandoren B45 but the stock piece that came with my Yamaha 650 is really good. I think it would be a great choice for a beginner who's looking for something inexpensive that plays well.

 

Fobes Debut and Mitchell Lurie #3 reeds. Rovner lig.

Can't do much wrong with this combo, and it's not expensive either.

 

I definitely agree that this is the best place to start. A very neutral and affordable clarinet setup that will encourage you to learn your clarinet fundamentals like a clarinetist. You'll be able to get good enough at the instrument that you'll be able to know where you want to go next, setup-wise. Or you might not ever need anything else! Even the Debuts are hand-finished by Clark, after all.

 

Thanks guys. The clarinet came with a Goldentone 3 and Vandoren 5RV. Hopefully one of them will stick.

 

Either should be fine. 5RV used to be golden standard; Goldentone could be good or meh depending on vintage. The Signets used to come with Goldentone and back then it was hard rubber not plastic. 5RV was a step up MPC bought by previous owner.

 

If you go with Vandoren VD lists recommended reed strengths. B45 with Blue box #3 is an inexpensive middle of the road MPC usually recommended for beginner/intermediate students. C85 is also very good. If you need cheaper plastic ones Nite Premier an Fobes Debut.
IMHO it would be better to play one of the mainstream before going to something else.

 

Mitchell Lurie 3 is a bit soft for a Debut. It will probably get you thru the first month or two but don't buy too many boxes. But yeah that is a good starter mpc. Then it depends where you want to go with the beast.

 

+1 on the Fobes. I know nothing about clarinet playing but my Fobes Nova for alto sax gave me the best bang for the buck.

 

Depending on the year of the Signet it may have come with an HS*. At least they did in 1971.
Either of the mouthpieces that came with the instrument will be more than good enough to start learning on. Either way start with a 2.5 Mitchel Lurie or similar.

 

Besides the mpcs, my purchase also came with a medium hard La Voz reed and a Rico #3. Is it just me or the La Voz seems to be a wider reed and that makes it so much easier to play.

 

I also agree that the Fobes Debut is a great place to start. It is very comfortable, blows freely and produces a very good tone. Often players want to find something that will make their clarinet feel like their sax or vice versa. I think the best option is to get used to the unique feel of each as they are quite different.

 

I started on a Selmer HS** mouthpiece, still play one after trying other stuff and prefer it over any Vandoren mouthpieces.