Re: Mouthpiece Duplication
Posted: Tue Jul 11, 2017 5:05 am
For what it is worth, a duplicated mouthpiece will probably not play like the original. I've had the "big boys" of the mouthpiece world duplicate mouthpieces and they are vastly different animals. If you can get the same mouthpiece blank to start, you have a chance. The might even get the rim right.
The cup is a challenge but since it is so big, they usually copy that pretty well.
The throat is quite difficult to copy exactly. We are not just talking about a drill size, the length of the throat is critical, as is the possibility there is a taper within the throat with a different taper than the backbore. The entrance to the throat is also critical and every mouthpiece maker has his own way of cutting that. As well as the exit from the throat. It is relatively easy to copy a backbore (not easy, but relatively) yet the guy running the cutting machine will often look and say, "That looks about like our #4 bit," when it is something else entirely.
I have had one mouthpiece copied exactly. It was a euphonium mouthpiece. Dick Barth (of BMB design, production and sales) looked at a mouthpiece I loved and said (flippantly I might add), "Oh, I can make that for you. I'll send a copy to you in a couple of weeks." He did and it played as identically as possible. He took no measurements, just eyeballed and made it from memory. Yes, he nailed the rim, cup, throat and backbore. The man is a genius!
The cup is a challenge but since it is so big, they usually copy that pretty well.
The throat is quite difficult to copy exactly. We are not just talking about a drill size, the length of the throat is critical, as is the possibility there is a taper within the throat with a different taper than the backbore. The entrance to the throat is also critical and every mouthpiece maker has his own way of cutting that. As well as the exit from the throat. It is relatively easy to copy a backbore (not easy, but relatively) yet the guy running the cutting machine will often look and say, "That looks about like our #4 bit," when it is something else entirely.
I have had one mouthpiece copied exactly. It was a euphonium mouthpiece. Dick Barth (of BMB design, production and sales) looked at a mouthpiece I loved and said (flippantly I might add), "Oh, I can make that for you. I'll send a copy to you in a couple of weeks." He did and it played as identically as possible. He took no measurements, just eyeballed and made it from memory. Yes, he nailed the rim, cup, throat and backbore. The man is a genius!