Mouthpieces What's on *Your* mouthpiece...?

[stephen_howard]

How often d'you clean your mouthpiece? If and when you do, what d'you consider to be sufficient? ( Poll Time, Pete? )

Having been asked this question many a time I decided to do a bit of research, and came up with this little article:

http://www.shwoodwind.co.uk/HandyHints/mouthpiece_hygiene.htm

Don't read it on a full stomach...

Regards,

 

[Rogerb]

I have just posted this on the SOTW forum, and it's relevant here:

I am in correspondence with Jody Espina after finding a small area of pitting on the table of my JJDV, where the reed is clamped.

Jody suggests it is possibly caused by acid in saliva after leaving a wet reed on the mpc, and I have to admit to having done that occasionally...... I thought only aqua regia dissolved gold

So, a salutory lesson for all owners of GP mouthpieces.... don't leave a 'saliva-wet' reed on them for an extended period!

......but as has just been pointed-out to me:
"I very much doubt that saliva could corrode gold plate.....that is one of the reason to have gold teeth, they are resistent to corrosion!"

Back to you, Jody 🙂

 

[old_git]

Inspired by 'Big Yin', well he is an accomplished banjo picker and therefore must be an excellent person, I keep my mouthpieces, when not being used, in my wellies. Nothing but my feet could live in there.

 

[Linky Lee]

I clean mine probably around monthly I guess. I don't have a routine, keep a track of it or anything, though if I feel it needs a clean it gets one. If not I'm perfectly happy to leave it be.

 

[Bobby G]

About all I do is give my mouthpiece a good dry inside and out after each session, having first removed the reed of course, plus occasionally pick off the crusty bits around the patch :x

Cheers, Bob

 

[Jules]

......and remember, never clean an ebonite 'piece in hot water

 

[frankb]

Great to see this update to your site, Stephen!

It's a terrific resource and one I leaned on heavily when I was scouting around to sort myself out a tenor. Now I dip in to the Notes section for light relief at lunchtimes!

...and whilst my mpc isn't too bad, the *swab* for my mpc...! :?

 

[suethesax]

I'm growing a cure for something on mine - not sure what yet

 

[phil_edwards]

nachoman wrote:
......and remember, never clean an ebonite 'piece in hot water

Why's that then? I do it (depending upon how hot is hot? of course)

regards, phil

 

[Jules]

Phil Edwards wrote:

nachoman wrote:
......and remember, never clean an ebonite 'piece in hot water

Why's that then? I do it (depending upon how hot is hot? of course)

regards, phil

don't you find the hot water makes them stink of sulphur & discolours the ebonite?

 

[phil_edwards]

it discolours yes, but doesn't stink.

When I use hot water it has half a Milton Steriliser tablet in it (which is why I wash them in the first place, I wouldn't just wash them in hot water alone).

Perhaps the Milton kills whatever is making the odour.

regards, Phil

 

[peter_fitton]

Is lukewarm water & soap ok?

 

[Rogerb]

I'm sure it is, and I use a soft old toothbrush, too.

 

[therudest]

I wash my mpc after every session....=\...maybe it's cause I'm a dentist student and I know too much bout those bacteria, that live in your mouth =DDD =DDD

 

[Linky Lee]

A point that has just occurred to me is that most music centers loan out instruments and mouthpieces!

I borrowed a Baritone for a year up until last summer from my local center and played in their swing band. That loan included a Selmer C* mouthpiece.

I was provided with some spray type thing and used it frequently, but you can imagine the amount of lazy people who didn't after I'd used it. :x

I'm sorry sir, I honestly don't know why the rest of the sax section has suddenly fallen ill this week... :whistle:

 

[philthd]

when i was on a borrowed music agency bari it wasnt the used mouthpiece that bothered me as much as the box of more-than-slightly-skanky used reeds i had to contend with

 

[Linky Lee]

I went and bought my own after taking a look at the reeds and thinking they were plasticovers, only to look and see they were rico royals.

 

[spike]

. . . took a while to get to this thread,
". . . you'll wonder where the green gunge went
when you brush your horn with pepsodent . . . "
wasn't that a bing crosby sixties commercial ?
Toothpaste and a childrens soft toothbrush have always been my weapons of choice against the green meanies, I don't blast 'em with fluoride stripes every day but it's two or three times a week and then the full treatment, a short soak of mpc, lig and reed in luke warm water followed by a short scrub-a-dub, if it's good enough for my oral hygiene, it's good enough for the saxophonic hardware. I never clean after I've finished playing, always before I start, it's a kind of ritual. And don't forget the neck, what used to come out of there when I was a honking smoking beer drinker is probably the reason that dinosaurs remain extinct.
gruss - spike

 

[Bobby G]

A honking, smoking beer drinker? Spike, I take it you are aware that honking, especially in conjunction with 'up', has an entirely different meaning. Were you the world's first punk sax-player?

I can't remember the last time I did anything more than thoroughly dry my mpc after playing, but a bit of crook hygene never went amiss' I take the octave mech off, clingfilm the cork end, and leave it full of vinegar for half an hour every few months. I'm sure it's subconscious self-delusion, but the sax seems to sound better with a clean crook.

Hang on.... it's the lottery.... ooooh, two numbers!! I haven't done that well in ages....

Cheers, Bob

 

[fecklesseric]

In my case it's more like "er... what's hygenic" I'm afraid.

Maybe I should read Stevens article and scare myself enough to start doing something, but I've had no problems so far.