WTB - Drake Ceramic Mouthpiece (Aldo/Tenor)

[Chris Sax]

Guys, anyone looking to part with their Drake Ceramic mouthpiece give me a P.M.
I have been looking to check out these pieces for a while now.
Let me know what you have.
Chris.

 

[Rogerb]

Yes, me, too ... love Steve Neff's playing of the tenor.....a beautifully 'clean' sound.

 

[Screamin Wind]

Threre a two on Ebay.com for sale...

 

[jonf]

Threre a two on Ebay.com for sale...

I could only see one, and that was US shipping only, as is so often the case......

 

[Screamin Wind]

Here you are...

http://cgi.ebay.com/Drake-Ceramic-J...emQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item2a039faad4

http://cgi.ebay.com/DRAKE-HANDMADE-...emQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item2a0355d53a

 

[Screamin Wind]

Forgot to add to my previous...

I've found if you contact the seller about shipping outside of the US, 9 times out of 10 they will....

 

[Rogerb]

I think one was for clarinet, and the tenor one was a ludicrous price ($335?) ..... the 'standard' models are $159.99 from the maker.

 

[Rogerb]

The BIN price for the Tenor is $350!!

 

[jonf]

The BIN price for the Tenor is $350!!

Hi Roger

The 'production' Drakes are a very reasonable $159, but this one claims to be the 'Custom' which retails at $399, so maybe not too extreme.

I quite fancy one of the 'production' models myself, but I think I'd order direct from the manufacturer. I take SW's point about asking sellers if they would ship overseas, but personally I don't see why, in these days of a global economy, I should have to ask. It's a particularly US phenomenon which smacks of inter-war isolationism. In my own eBay trading I've shipped all around the world with no problems at all and I just don't get why many sellers state that they'll only sell within the US. So they don't get my $$$.

Just my opinion, as ever.

Jon

 

[Rogerb]

I was told by Aaron Drake that, if they don't have an 'agent' in the country(as they don't in Spain), they will ship directly from the maker. There is probably a distributor in UK, if so you'd need to contact them.

 

[Chris98]

Hi Roger,

If you find yourself in the UK and in Dorset, Sherborne to be exact, pop into Wessex Music. They are very friendly, I was offered a cup to tea and I was given two Drake ceramic mouthpieces to try, as well as others, when I was looking for a new tenor piece the Christmas before last.

Best wishes,

Chris

 

[Rogerb]

Thanks, Chris ...what did you try and what did you think?

 

[Rogerb]

They may not have had the current 'production' models in stock then.

 

[Chris98]

They may not have had the current 'production' models in stock then.

Hi Roger,

I've just been over to Drake's website it looks like Wessex Music is the dealer for them in the UK.

As to what I thought, well, it was the first time I had even heard about ceramic mouthpieces let alone played one so hopefully my impressions were unbiased:

To be honest it played like an okay mouthpiece, I didn't dislike it but neither did it seem to offer anything different or amazing, I'd put it in the same 'plays okay, sounds okay' arena that I put the Vandoren metal V16 and Jody Jazz DVNY I tried - I wanted to be blown away by these pieces, I wanted them to feel and sound substantially different and be desirable but they were just 'okay' nice mouthpieces but nothing special. - Many will disagree with me.

This may sound like a daft analogy but it wasn’t until I got my Vandoren Java T75 that I felt like I’d strapped on some decent walking books instead walking about in a pair of old trainers, all of a sudden I felt a sense of surefootedness, and had a foundation to build on.

Back to the Drake mouthpieces, I didn’t even ask the price or make a note of the model, tip opening or anything, that’s not to say they aren’t good, the one’s I tried just weren’t for me.

Best wishes,

Chris

 

[jonf]

Hi Roger,

If you find yourself in the UK and in Dorset, Sherborne to be exact, pop into Wessex Music. They are very friendly, I was offered a cup to tea and I was given two Drake ceramic mouthpieces to try, as well as others, when I was looking for a new tenor piece the Christmas before last.

Best wishes,

Chris

I saw that they were listed on Drake's website as an agent, but I don't know whether they still are, as when I visited Wessex's (awful) site, I searched it for Drake and got a 'not found' response. Dunno, maybe they just haven't got to grips with running a website yet.