where to try out mouthpieces

[TenorTim]

Can someone please tell me where I can find a place that will allow me to try out mouthpieces before I buy them? I just can't imagine buying a 100 or 200 dollar mouthpiece and then saying...hmm....this doesn't have the sound I was looking for...I know there are places like muic123 that charge 15 for returned mouthpieces...but if I try 6 or 8 of them, that adds up to be the price of a mouthpiece! I would end up playing twice as much (or more) for a mouthpiece in the long run. Does anyone have a solution?

[Mike Ruhl]

Woodwind and Brasswind (www.wwbw.com (http://www.wwbw.com)) gives you a 45-day trial on mouthpieces. I have ordered multiple mouthpieces from them several times, and despite what it says in their print catalogue and on their website, they've never charged me for anything other than the shipping when I returned everything.

Here's how it works. If your order is more than $150 (sometimes less), they ship it our for free. Order some Runyon bite patches as well, so you don't mark up the bite plates on the mpcs. If you don't have one, also order a Rovner ligature to use so you don't scratch the barrel of the mpcs.

Try them out for a week or two. Then call ww&bw for a return number. Clean it all up, pack it all in the original packaging, seal it up in the box they sent it in, and send it back to them. When they receive it back, they'll charge you for the original shipping costs, but that's it. So you'll be out that plus the cost to ship it back to them. No more than $10 total.

If you just follow the return instructions on the packing slip, you'll be fine.

The only hitch is that they're a little slow to process the credit to your credit card. So if you pay with your credit card, you may end up paying for the purchase, then receiving a credit the next month. I got around this by getting one of their "Buy It Now" cards, and taking advantage of the 90-days-same-as-cash deals. That way, there's plenty of time for them to process the credit before I'm actually required to pay anything.

[djez4fun]

I don't know where you live, but if you ever go to the Netherlands, you could meet Henk Rensink. He's giving workshops and helps you finding the best mouthpiece. He's doing some tests and got plenty of mpc's. I don't know what he charges for such a test. I know he does some workshops in Belgium and Germany as well, maybe he even goes further than that. Check out his site at http://www.henkrensink.nl
I just heard about the guy, never met him.

[MojoBari]

The WW&BW deal is one of the best out there, if not the best. Jody Jazz has a good trial policy. So does Runyon. There are a few stores or shows in/near big cities that have decent selections to try. What area of the country are you in?

You can also get into buy/sell vicious circle. Buy from eBay or a SOTW contact. Resell for the same or a slight loss. s/h expenses too. The worst deal is to buy new, sell used.

[Mike Ruhl]

That link doesn't seem to work. Try this one: http://www.henkrensink.nl/uk/intro.html

[djez4fun]

That link doesn't seem to work. Try this one: http://www.henkrensink.nl/uk/intro.html

Works fine here, but thanks anyway Mike! :)