Looking for Bass Clar. mpc. w/ bigger chamber than Yamaha 5C...

[mr00420]

I have a friend who double on Bass Clar. and can't find an mpc with a bigger chamber than his current Yamaha 5C here in Japan. I'll be going stateside soon and I told him I'd try to find something bigger.

He wants something bright w/ an edgy attack, but a focused tone. The other thing is he plays pretty avant-garde and uses a lot of multi-phonics. He also prefers hard reeds. He wants a big chamber and for it to have a large tip opening.

Anybody got any ideas? I was recommended a Vandoren B45. Does that have a bigger chamber? Any other makes and models I should check out? Thanks:)

[MojoBari]

I think your friend is mistaken to think that a larger chamber will give him the sound he wants... Unless he is looking to play out of tune.

A larger tip opening will generate a little more volume. The Vandoren B45 or B46 is a good start. They go up to ~ .080" in tip opening. Charles Bay makes his up to .090" tip. But they are harder to get and are pricey.

I have experimented with tips up to .090" on bass clar and have tried adding baffles for more edge and projection. I found that a .080" Bay with a Stick-on Powertone baffle was tough to beat for volume (so that is what I use). It seemed that as I went larger, the tone got darker and lost focus. I one day want to make a .100" tip faced for a bari sax reed. But that's a future project.

[mr00420]

So what are the differences between the Bay and the Vandorens? Thanks for the info.:)

[MojoBari]

They have different facing curves. Everything else is too subtle for me to notice a difference. A custom clarinet mouthpiece maker might know more.

[super20dan]

try a bari plastic reed on bass clarinet. projects like crazy and is bright . i used a vandoreen b46 mpc with this reed .a great combo for comtemporay bass clarinet playing ala eric dolphy

[MojoBari]

Yes! I forgot to comment on bright reeds. Bari's are loud an bright. A Fibracell works well too.

[jbjazzman]

Beechler makes BC mpcs with tips up to around .110 or .115
I use one that measures .099. Doc Tenney put a Link 7
tenor curve on it for me and I use tenor reeds. Plenty volume
but maybe not suited for classical........

[AbrahamFackle]

I use a Grabner cx_bb_90, which has a more open tip then your standard bass mouthpiece but isn't huge (the maker lists it as 1.90 but I don't know how that compares to standard measurements). It's got a big, beefy sound, and I can crank altissimo and multiphonics out of it easily. They've gone up in price since I bought mine but they're still reasonable for what you get.

[MojoBari]

If its 1.90 mm this is ~ .075".

[AbrahamFackle]

That's it? Weird.

[Bootman]

Speak to Ed Pillinger, he makes a 100 tip openign bass Clarinet piece. I have one and it is great, much gruntier than the bay which I also own or the Selmer D. also trya plasticover reed on your Bass, these give the horn some real impact, bigger tone than the Fibracells Ihave played too.