Beak Reshaping

xp3bift · Joined: 08 Jun 2010 Posts: 1

Theo
I have a tenor Soloist short shank c* that I got from a friend (Paavo Carey). He tells me that you refaced it and opened it up to a 105. I love it!!! Problem is that after playing a couple of hours I feel like I went 10 rounds with Mike Tyson. My jaw is telling me that I've worked out. Having been an alto/clarinet player I'm relatively new to tenor, and my mouth is having a hard time with the larger mouthpiece. Is it possible to thin down the beak to fit more comfortably? What are your thoughts? I'm really not interested in any kind of resale value, since I would like to play this piece in my grave.

TheoWanne · Posted: Tue Jun 22, 2010 12:42 pm Post subject:

Hi,

I am happy to hear you like the sound of the mouthpiece.

It would be perfectly fine to thin the beak material down to make it smaller in your mouth. That is something I often did on 'Custom Selmers". Other than making it more comfortable in the mouth, it also adds a bit more resonance to the mouthpiece too.

Overall all I personally like the affect of shaving down the beak material on vintage Selmers.

Blessings, Theo