Mouthpieces What can you tell me about my A Lelandais mouthpiece?

[Bernie]

I have a few questions about this A Lelandais mouthpiece:

1. It has a marking which looks like C 7 *. Anybody know what that might mean?

2. It's brown. Was it brown when it was new, or is this discolouration with age? If so, could that be reversed?

3. How should I clean it?

4. How can I tell what kind of "lay" it has, if that's the right term?

5. It's slightly chewed. I'll be putting a plastic pad on there, but is there anything I can do to get rid of the chew marks first?

 

[Colin the Bear]

It looks like 5* to me.

HR goes brown with age.

Cold water toothbrush and toothpaste. Do not get hot water.anywhere near it.

By playing it, probably french

Water weld. It's white but non toxic and won't show if it's under a patch.

 

[aldevis]

1. It has a marking which looks like C 7 *. Anybody know what that might mean?

From the picture it looks more like 5* to me

2. It's brown. Was it brown when it was new, or is this discolouration with age? If so, could that be reversed?

It was originally black. It gets brown for an unpleasant chemical process.
Try to lick it and you will feel the taste of hell. That is sulphur.
It cannot be reversed, but it can be buffed to a decent level.

3. How should I clean it?

Toothbrush and cold (or maybe lukewarm) water

4. How can I tell what kind of "lay" it has, if that's the right term?

You have to measure it. You can check tip opening with a caliper. Lay length needs feeler gauges.

5. It's slightly chewed. I'll be putting a plastic pad on there, but is there anything I can do to get rid of the chew marks first?

I would just us the plastic pad after the buffing.

 

[aldevis]

Crossposting...

 

[kevgermany]

Can clean it with abrasive foam. Looks like a 5* tip, medium assuming they follow standard sizes. French, hard rubber, good quality, large chambered.

 

[altissimo]

'C' may refer to the chamber size, the '7' is the tip opening - 7 was probably as large a tip opening as you could get in those days, but by today's standards quite moderate - if it's an alto piece then probably no bigger than .065"
It looks similar to my Woodwind & Co New York Steel Ebonite B5*
this article has info on what the letters mean on Woodwind Co mouthpieces - http://www.doctorsax.biz/2012/WoodwindCoMpcFacings.htm
But I can't say if the letters on Lelandais mouthpieces mean the same thing

Of the few old brown oxidised hard rubber mouthpieces I've had, none of them tasted or smelled sulphurous, so you may be lucky and not have to clean it

"Lelandais was a contemporary company based in Paris, France, that produced high-quality and popular mouthpieces. In 1949, Lelandais took over the Charles Chedeville Company and produced mouthpieces with a similar design as made by Charles Chedeville. Lelandais continued to make mouthpieces through the 1970’s. Much later Glotin purchased the remnants of the Charles Chedeville and Lelandais companies in the 1970’s."

 

[Bernie]

It looks like 5* to me.

You're quite right, I saw that myself when I looked at the photo after I'd posted it, but I thought I'd let you feel the thrill of discovery.

Cold water toothbrush and toothpaste. Do not get hot water.anywhere near it.

Ok, thanks, you probably saved me there.

By playing it, probably french

That will be interesting then, when my loan sax arrives. I haven't yet found a clear description of the difference between French and other curves, but I'll keep looking.

Water weld. It's white but non toxic and won't show if it's under a patch.

Aha! The patches I have are transparent, I'll just get black ones, then I won't need to do anything about the chewing, it was more the look of it that bothered me, it's very superficial.

 

[Bernie]

From the picture it looks more like 5* to me

Correct, see above.

It was originally black. It gets brown for an unpleasant chemical process.
Try to lick it and you will feel the taste of hell. That is sulphur.

Maybe a very faint taste of sulphur.

You have to measure it. You can check tip opening with a caliper. Lay length needs feeler gauges.

This is an opportunity to pass on a tip: you can use sheets of thin paper as a substitute for feeler gauges, if you have some way to measure the depth of the stack of papers. But how do I measure the lay length with feeler gauges (i.e. pages of the telephone directory and external calipers)?

 

[aldevis]

You see how far the 0.04 mm goes from the tip. I am going by memory, but that gives you an approximation of the length.

I am expecting something like 14 mm on an alto.

You can compare with Pillinger facings on his website.

French lays tend to be shorter than American, but we are verging with urban legends here.

 

[Colin the Bear]

French and American lays explained here. It's for clarinets but you'll get the drift.

http://www.dawkes.co.uk/clarinets/clarinet-reeds.php

 

[PigSquealer]

Is a G Valette alto mouthpiece from this same maker ? No size or markings. Year? Any good ?