Mouthpieces Is mouthpiece plastic or hard rubber?

[sushidushi]

I just bought a clarinet - a Leblanc Bliss - and it has a mouthpiece marked Cadenza. I have seen references to a hard rubber Leblanc Cadenza mouthpiece, but this one doesn't feel any different from my plastic Hite Premier alto sax mouthpiece. I think I was expecting it to feel a bit different - rubbery, I suppose.

It doesn't actually matter, but I am a bit curious as to how I can tell, without leaving it in a bowl of boiling water in bright sunlight.

 

[Nick Wyver]

Scratch and sniff would probably do it.

 

[Pete Thomas]

Scratch and sniff would probably do it.

Yes, HR mouthpieces often look like plastic and never feel rubbery.

Sadly the easiest ways to tell are destructive, leave in the hot sun or add boing water. they turn greenish brown and smell sulphoury then

 

[jbtsax]

There is a test that is not too destructive to the mouthpiece. Take a Q-tip and wet the end with acetone or nail polish remover. Just touch the end of the shank of the mouthpiece with the wet cotton bud and pull it away and look at it. If it has picked up some of the black of the mouthpiece it is plastic since acetone dissolves plastic very quickly.

 

[gladsaxisme]

Is that what you call getting a groovy mpc

 

[TomMapfumo]

It also seems to be the case that HR mouthpieces only have to have a certain percentage of hard rubber in them. Morgan mouthpieces have one of the highest percentages of hard rubber in their mouthpieces.

 

[Pete Thomas]

It also seems to be the case that HR mouthpieces only have to have a certain percentage of hard rubber in them. Morgan mouthpieces have one of the highest percentages of hard rubber in their mouthpieces.

I heard that legally they should be at least 55%. PPT mouthpieces I believe are 100% hard rubber, although I guess it might be more accurate to say ebonite, as ebonite would also contain sulphur which isn't rubber. However i think that's a moot point. Rubber is stuff that comes out of trees, hard rubber must have stuff added and go through a process (vulcanisation) or else we would all be playing soft bouncy mouthpieces I suppose.

 

[sushidushi]

I think I half expected the clarinet mouthpiece to be, well not soft and bouncy exactly, but to feel rather different from plastic.

As an aside, clarinets can squawk VERY easily. My sloppy saxophone fingering is going to have to get a lot more accurate.