Noblet Silver clarinet...Did I make a good choice?

[LowThudd]

IMO, if you have a really decent mouthpiece, a lot of the differences between pro model and intermediate model start to vanish.

I am starting to notice that. I bought 8 'Vintage' MPCs (@$30) to sample, some good some not so good. I am liking the Brillharts. The facings on some of the other 'pieces are just not so great for a beginner like me, but might be nice later. The less usable pieces I am going to practice refacing on.

However, some clarinets do have a unique tone to them, but that is very subjective. Keywork is also very subjective. My big guitar/bass playing fingers like some space, but for some reason the horns with the tighter keywork(while more cumbersome) just feel good.

I disassembled the Noblet completely, and I am amazed at how nice the nickel is. There are very few scratches, and literally no wear through. The keys could use some polish, but that is easy enough to do. Again, no wear through on the nickel-silver plated keys. Should be gorgeous when done.

 

[Steve]

Noblets quality was top notch. They cut corners to lower cost where it didn't affect functionality and overall quality.

Many Brilharts were designed to be very easy playing with a nice rollover baffle. Of course they also were a bit bright because of that too but excellent high dynamic mouthpieces. usually a medium to shorter lay too which made them easy to play.

wow, I just realize that I don't have a Brilhart mpc page on my website.

 

[LowThudd]

I have two brilharts, a Nilo W Hovey(my current fav.), and the brilhart Special Ebolin that I used in the Easy MPC repair thread. Deffinately easier to play. I am determined to use the vintage hard rubber Noblet MPC with the Noblet horn, but I think the facing is a bit long for me. I'll have to practice to get used to it.

 

[CHasR]

necessity, invention, mother, etc...

So I was able to hook a mouthpiece to the horn by cutting a champagne cork to fit between the horn and a spare (Aria?) plastic barrel I got in a lot auction.

forgive me for being a pre-JC Denner throwback, :geezer2: but I would ve just hemped it. Not that your solution isnt very clever (it is ~really!) but seems like a hammer-to-swat-a-fly kinda approach... theres really no better (or elegant) method to get a "way smaller than the intended bore" tenon to behave like it was meant to fit there all along, than waxed twine
@Steve Sklar: good to know Le Noblet is a class horn.

 

[LowThudd]

forgive me for being a pre-JC Denner throwback, :geezer2: but I would ve just hemped it. Not that your solution isnt very clever (it is ~really!) but seems like a hammer-to-swat-a-fly kinda approach... theres really no better (or elegant) method to get a "way smaller than the intended bore" tenon to behave like it was meant to fit there all along, than waxed twine
@Steve Sklar: good to know Le Noblet is a class horn.

This was just a throw together, just to get a sound out of the horn. I used what I had available at the time. I do have some hemp twine somewhere, but the cork takes up space and works fine. I'll make a barrel out of copper tubing connections later, if I can't find an original. But this will help me establish the barrel length after I repad. Basically, I just wanted to hear it blow before rebuild.

 

[Steve]

I have two brilharts, a Nilo W Hovey(my current fav.), and the brilhart Special Ebolin that I used in the Easy MPC repair thread. Deffinately easier to play. I am determined to use the vintage hard rubber Noblet MPC with the Noblet horn, but I think the facing is a bit long for me. I'll have to practice to get used to it.

Usually the mpc facing is the part that players have issues with.
The primary issue is that players don't change their embouchure to reflect the design of the mpc. Thus they use their embouchure to bend the reed to fit their existing embouchure.

Here's a high level view of a mouthpiece
http://www.clarinetperfection.com/clmpcNomenclature.htm

read this section
http://www.clarinetperfection.com/clmpcTypes.htm#mpc2

then lower on the page here are pictures that show the various facing lengths
http://www.clarinetperfection.com/clmpcTypes.htm#HowMuchMouthpiece

Of course this identifies location, and not the embouchure in it's entirity.
Go down to the Lower "Lip Position/Throat" section
http://www.clarinetperfection.com/Embouchure.htm

Knowing this one can vary their embouchure based upon the mpc design, and surprisingly may hear a difference between mpcs. Of course, with the facing curve differences you will then find that different reeds fit different mpcs better/worse. I have a wide variety of reeds to accomodate this. But I tend to gravitate to a "normal facing" reed Vandy blue box and the "long facing" reed, the Vandy 56 Rue Lepic .. at least that is how I define them. They can be used in any setting etc but I find them handy for various facing lengths.