Making your own Meyer Brothers 6M alto saxophone mouthpiece

I promised those of you who play alto saxophone that I would write a blog about how you can save hundreds, maybe thousands, of dollars.  For tenor players, you can check out my "Making Your Own Otto Link Slant Signature" blog.  The vintage Link Slant Signature doesn't command ridiculous prices for alto pieces.  For that, you need to buy a vintage Meyer Brothers alto mouthpiece.  

That's right, $2,500 asking price and $25 shipping.  

The Ebay text often says that the 5M is the "Holy Grail,"* so I guess somebody famous played that tip opening.  I always thought that the 6M was the "Holy Grail," because that's what usually plays better for me.  Here is a 6M that is $200 less, but I'm still not tempted.
Meyer Brothers Meyer Brothers Meyer Brothers

Still over $2k for a little hunk of ebonite.

Meyer Brothers mouthpiece Meyer Brothers Meyer Brothers
Actually, many players find that a little larger tip plays even better than a 6M but, like the Otto Link Slant Signature, the vintage mouthpieces didn't come in modern tip openings.  So we are going to make a larger tip opening, but label it a 6M.  
Meyer Brothers Meyer Brothers Meyer Brothers
You should know that the $2,500 5M shown above has a gouge on the tip rail.
Meyer Brothers mouthpiece Meyer Brothers Meyer Brothers

You could pay somebody to fix this, although then you will no longer have an original 5M .  

Meyer Brothers Meyer Brothers Meyer Brothers

Instead of altering the tip opening to get rid of the damage on a $2,500 carcass, lets just make ourselves a genuine new vintage Meyer Brothers alto 6M and save at least $2,000.  We can use the money that we save to buy a nice vintage alto saxophone to put on the end of our new vintage mouthpiece.
Meyer Brothers Meyer Brothers Meyer Brothers 
As with the tenor Link Slant Signature, we may need to find a vintage carcass. We don't want to make a later "Babbitt" Meyer alto mouthpiece because the earliest version of any mouthpiece is always the best (for some unknown reason).   Fortunately, the later unworthy Meyer blanks are easy to recognize.  On the later Meyer blanks, the two lines on the shank are very thin, as though they were cut in on a lathe rather than molded into the ebonite.  Some of the no-name blanks don't have the lines at all, which makes me believe that they were cut in on later Meyer pieces (but not on other maker's use of the identical blank).
Meyer Brothers Meyer Brothers Meyer Brothers

Here an example of the thin lines.

A later Meyer New York USA with the thin rings.  BAD.

Meyer Brothers New York with the wider molded rings.  GOOD.  Well worth the extra $2,000 if you are going to show it to other players.

So, where are we going to find a blank carcass without the Meyer name on it to reface?  Babbitt only sold these to a few other companies besides Meyer Brothers back in the day.  Good thing that we now have a new source.  An enterprising company has chosen to make these again.  Out of ebonite.  For a reasonable price ($39).  And free shipping.

Here it is.  It ships with an okay facing (no scratches, gouges, and discoloration like on an original), but it is a little smaller tip opening than a vintage 6M.  And it only comes in a medium chamber, which is also okay because that seems to be the most popular vintage Meyer Brothers chamber.    

The wide cast-in rings that indicate a genuine vintage new Meyer Brothers piece.

The official Meyer Brothers medium chamber made with secret recipe vintage ebonite.

All it needs is an official vintage Meyer Brothers facing.  Even better would be some Meyer Brothers embossing.  The embossing is what players need to see to justify spending $2,500.  These blanks are less than $40, including shipping.

Our blank does not come with anything embossed on it, and that will likely be one of the difficult aspects of creating a genuine vintage new Meyer Brothers alto 6M.  

But first, the numbers.  As with the prior blog on making a genuine vintage Link Slant Signature, we will rely on Keith Bradbury's website Mouthpiece Works for our alto 6M lay numbers:

.0015"      41.2

.005         35.7

.010         30.7

.016         26.2

.024         21.3

.035         15.8

.050           9.6

.063           5.0

.078             .2

I should note that some of the tables for Meyer tip openings show that a #6 alto is .076," yet the lay shown above results in a .078 feeler gauge just barely slipping under the tip.  A few things to remember.  First, it is more important that the lay is smooth than the exact tip opening.  Second, tables for Meyer tip openings varied over the years, so there is no agreed upon tip opening for a #6.  Third, Meyer Brother mouthpieces were hand finished and varied from piece to piece.  Fourth, if these unavoidable variations bothers you, you cannot be a mouthpiece finisher.  You are what mouthpiece finishers call "customers" and you should not be reading this or measuring mouthpiece tip openings.  If hand-finishing deviations bother you, just look at the number stamped on the side of a mouthpiece, tell everybody that number (even if they don't ask), and be happy.

I should also note that, according to one mouthpiece finisher, the standard tip openings of Meyer alto pieces actually changed over the years.  Ralph Morgan provided numbers for 1939 Meyer alto pieces (Meyer Brother pieces) and 1970 Meyer alto pieces (then completely fabricated and finished by JJ Babbitt).  According to Mr. Morgan, a 1939 6M had a tip opening of .085 inches and a lay of 20.6 mm (a Brand number of 41.2).  A 1970 6M had a tip opening of .076 inches with the same lay of 20.6 mm.  Obviously, the difference in tip opening would require different Brand numbers all the way down the curvature.  

To further add to the confusion, as noted by Mr. Morgan, the designation "M" is generally related to the length of the lay, and not a "medium chamber."  So the above "M" for medium lay at 20.6 mm might be correct despite the decreased tip opening over the years.  The problem is that for the Meyer 6M tenor mouthpiece, unlike the alto, Mr. Morgan shows that the "M" medium lay went down from 24.8 mm to 20.6 mm over the years.  So, like the Otto Link Tone Edge numbers shown in a prior blog, we basically don't have any idea what the lay on a vintage Meyer 6M alto piece should be.  

And again, that can work to our advantage.  We are not forced to adhere to some musty old numbers that somebody may have measured incorrectly or copied down wrong from a mouthpiece that might have been altered prior to the measuring.  We could, if we want, use some old "official vintage Meyer Brothers #6 tip opening" of .085 inches and a lay of our own choosing.  For instance, the chart given on Mouthpiece Works shows that a .085 tip opening should have a lay of 22.2 mm.  And we can, if we choose, use Excel to alter and smooth the curve between any numbers that we choose.  What is important is that, when finished, we stamp our new vintage Meyer Brothers alto with "6M" because that is what our favorite player used.

To save time, here are "new" computer-generated Brand numbers for an "old" Meyer Brothers #6 alto with a .086 tip opening.

.0015"      44.4

.005         38.9

.010         33.9

.016         29.3

.024         24.4

.035         18.9

.050         12.6

.063           8.0

.078           3.1

These are closer to the numbers that I prefer and will be using on making my personal vintage Meyer Brothers 6M alto.  My tip opening will actually be about .095 and I don't care if Meyer Brothers never made a tip opening that size.  It just doesn't matter.  (Open the link in a separate window so you can continue reading while listening to the motivational speech.)  Below are the numbers that I ended up using.  This would be a long facing in a tip size never offered by Ed and Frank Meyer.  

48.2
42.5
37.5
32.5
27.5
21.7
15.1
10.4
5.6

I spent $39 for the blank and I already had the other required tools and materials on the workbench.  If you have read some of the other Stuff Sax blogs, you know what to do to put on a facing curve.  Getting it to play like a vintage Meyer 6M is the easy part, so I'll just skip to the difficult part of making an official vintage $2,500 Meyer Brothers 6M alto mouthpiece.

There will be another required expenditure beyond the normal tools.  I bought this a while back when making the world's only known official vintage Rico M.C. Gregory C-Melody mouthpiece.  

I don't remember exactly what I paid for the little laser (probably about $50).  Maybe prices have come down.  Google "NEJE DK - 8 - KZ 1000mW Laser Engraver Printer " and you will find lots of information.  The laser works fine, but the software glitches and scanty manual make using it a challenge.

After putting on the lay of your choice so that it plays like a vintage Meyer 6M, now we are ready for the important part. Be sure to carefully check that you have the right font and size.  Here, I'm burning the vintage logo on to a pad of Post It Notes before actually engraving my new vintage Meyer Brothers 6M.  I can then stick the paper on my mouthpiece to make sure it is the right size.  The first test was a little too big.

Cameras don't like taking pictures of laser beams.

Here it is resized to fit the mouthpiece.

Even better is to practice on an alto mouthpiece.  This is a Selmer Perfectone that I am using as a Guinea pig.  It is injection molded plastic, rather than the ebonite Meyer carcass, and the laser melts and raises areas around the etching.  Not really a problem because those areas can be polished off.  It is also possible to paint the etching so that, when polished, the letters are white or gold or whatever is required to make the vintage mouthpiece.  Meyer used gold.  Hard rubber, as we will see, doesn't deform and the paint can simply be wiped into the etching.

This is the gold paint daubed into the engraving on my Selmer Perfectone test piece.

Lightly sanded with 400 grit paper removes the ridge around the engraving and cleans up the paint.

Then polish the area.  For many players, this Perfectone will start sounding like a vintage Meyer.

I also tested a "6" and "M" stamp on the Perfectone to make sure that they are the right font and point size.  To get the vintage Meyer sound, you will need 3/32" steel stamps.  

Looks good.  These don't get gold filled and have to be in the right position (not on the beak like I did on this old Perfectone!)  Also, make sure that you have the stamps oriented correctly.  The 6M is the Holy Grail.  If you use the stamps upside down, a 9W won't play the same for some.

So I've now tested all the engraving requirements.  I need to put all of this on my official vintage Meyer Brothers blank.  I put the carcass in my laser engraver and center it.

Held in place with tape and ready for the vintage Meyer Brothers chamber size.

Look, it is now officially a vintage medium chamber.  That adds $1,000 in value.

Here it is with gold paint in the engraving.  By rubbing a little more, the letters will get a little more distinct.  It is even possible to remove some of the paint that is down inside the embossing, making it look even more vintage (and making it play much better, of course).

Ooooh, a real vintage "New York" Meyer.  Well, it is vintage 2018.  Still, the engraving adds another $1,000 in value.  But is it a vintage 6M?  Not yet.  It needs just a little more work, but it's starting to get that West Coast sound.

Again, you can see a little bit of the gold paint outside of the lettering and below "York."  This will clean up and the rough edges around the letters will smooth out with a little polishing.  Now it is starting to sound more like that famous player.

The big question.  Once we are finished with the embossing, does it play just like a vintage New York Meyer Brother alto 6M?  Yes.  It actually did before I put the engraving on it.  The difference is that now others will agree.

Since writing this blog, several people have told me that their favorite alto player didn't play a Meyer Brothers 6M.  He played a Rico "Gregory" brand mouthpiece.  More accurately, he played a Rico mouthpiece at one point in his career and that's what now commands high prices.  Could I please show them how to make a vintage Gregory so they can sound like the famous player?  Well, I can show them how to make an official real vintage original Gregory alto mouthpiece.  The rest is up to them.

Rico apparently kept total control over the Gregory molds and the sales of blanks to others was extremely limited (I've only found a few and they may be from the prior owner of the molds).  Some believe that you can make a Gregory mouthpiece by using a Gale mouthpiece as a carcass, as Gale Products, Inc. was associated with Rico for almost a year.  Sorry, but no.  Elmer Beechler associated with Rico at one point, so we could just as rationally claim that you can make a Gregory from a Remlé mouthpiece.  Arnold Brilhart associated with Rico, so we could claim that the Rico Graphonite is really a Gregory.  I don't think so.  

To make a "real" vintage Gregory, you need a Rico Gregory blank.  As we learned from the making a Meyer Brothers alto 6M, it is extremely important that the finished mouthpiece looks like a Meyer Brothers 6M.  If it doesn't look right, it doesn't play right.  I'll post a link here when I get around to making a Gregory.  I'll make one that looks just like the one that your favorite alto player supposedly used at some point.



* The Holy Grail is a vessel that provides it's owner happiness, eternal youth, and sustenance in infinite abundance.  It is now available for the first time ever as a saxophone mouthpiece.  Some claim that the Holy Grail is just a myth.  True believers are willing to take a gamble and spend the money.

Just a thought.  Claims that a mouthpiece is the Holy Grail are always made by sellers.  Once purchased, no players claim that their mouthpiece is the Holy Grail (until it is time to sell it).  Why is that?  And why would somebody sell the Holy Grail?

The M.C. Gregory Saga Parts l, ll, and lll

In order to understand the commentary and criticism in the further Parts of The Gregory Mouthpiece Saga, here are the excerpts from three 1992 issues of the Saxophone Journal.  You can click on any page to enlarge.  It may be necessary to right click and open the image in a new tab in order to make the pages large enough to read clearly.

The first installment was called The Gregory Mouthpiece Chronicle, Part 1.

The second and third installments were called The Gregory Mouthpiece Saga.  A "chronical" is generally fact based, whereas a "saga" is more fanciful and fictitious.  I'm not sure if that is why the titles differ, as Part 1 also contained obvious and undeniable factual errors, the most glaring being the assertion that "M.C. Gregory formed Gale Products, Co, in Hollywood, to carry on the manufacture of Gregory products."

Carl Satzinger, a principal in Gale Products, Inc., is given credit for working on the Master by Gregory, but we now know that Gale Products, Inc. had failed and sold its assets before Rico introduced the Master by Gregory.  And it appears that the Master was a just a rebadging of Rico's prior pieces.  The facts actually indicate that Gale and Gregory were two separate and unrelated Rico brand names.

The original Saga is mistaken and misleading in that Cesar Tschudin was not an attorney, did not know M.C. Gregory, had formed a partnership with Elmer Beechler, and, when that partnership failed, simply revived the name "Gale" for his subsequent mouthpieces, as is detailed in the blogs, beginning with Part IV.  And, spoiler alert, Gale didn't die.

Vintage Martin Ligatures and Mouthpiece Caps

While conducting research on Riffault et Fils and speaking with Bernadette Mimault (the daughter of founder Maurice Riffault) and her husband, Jacques, I also learned a little about the fairly common vintage ligatures and mouthpiece caps marked "M Martin, France."  If you have had more than a couple of vintage mouthpieces, you have seen caps and ligatures with this logo.  You should be able to click on any picture to enlarge.

These are not, as some claim, related in any way to Martin saxophones.

Sometimes called a "salt shaker" cap, it features three holes in the top, usually some fancy embellishment, and the M Martin logo inside of a diamond (generally a double diamond).  They were available in brass, lacquered brass, nickel plate, and silver plate for all size mouthpieces.  They are still available in brass and nickel plate, and by special order, in silver or gold plate.  That's right, they are still available, although presently without the Martin logo stamped on them.  They are, however, available with custom logos, like Selmer, Leblanc, Vito, Buffet Crampon, etc.  You have probably seen or owned those as well.

In order for Riffault et Fils to market it's mouthpieces in France and abroad, they needed to be complete with a properly fitted cap and ligature (and sometimes even a reed).  I learned that they sourced their caps and ligatures from Hérouard & Bérnard, a company located close by in Ezy sur Eure, the historical center of woodwind manufacturing in France.  Ezy sur Eure became a center because of the abundance of boxwood in the area used to make early woodwind instruments.  When the mature boxwood trees were used up, the industry shifted to ebony wood, but stayed in and around La Couture-Boussey (starting about the 1500's, way before the saxophone).  I made arrangements to visit the manufacturing site of Hérouard & Bérnard.

It's not clear to me exactly how  "Martin" became the logo, in part because of the intertwining of the families that were involved in the woodwind industry.  I'm talking about local family names like Buffet, Noblet, Thibouville, and Leblanc.  "Martin" was one of those names, in fact, Madeliene Martin was a descendant of Claude Buffet.  Presumably, Madeliene is what the "M" in "M Martin" stands for.  

From what I've gathered, Rose Buffet (sister of Claude Buffet) married instrument maker Jean Jacques Hérouard in La Couture-Boussey in 1800.  Their grandson, Alfred Hérouard, born 1866, developed and improved the manufacture of metal ligatures.  Their great grandson, Pierre Hérouard, developed a metal cover (now called a cap) for protecting the mouthpiece and reed.  The company is still run by the great, great, great, great grandson of Jean Jacques Hérouard, Mr. Robin Chevreteau, making Hérouard & Bérnard France's oldest continually family run woodwind business.  I was given a tour by Mr. Chevreteau.

The surprisingly large low-rise factory is right behind this house in a residential area of Ezy-sur-Eure.  The home's living room is now the showroom and other rooms have been converted to office space.  Mr. Chevreteau explained that it was his grandfather's house and was used as a residence until recently.  Given the history of Hérouard & Bérnard, "recently" may be decades ago.

Although I don't know exactly how the M Martin name ended up on the caps and ligatures, I know that through some convoluted history, Hérouard & Bérnard continues to fabricate the identical ligatures and mouthpiece caps.  

Rolls of brass sheet metal for making caps and ligatures.

Cap sheet metal stamped, partially formed, waiting for the "salt shaker" end piece and final brazing.

The three-hole "salt shaker" end pieces.  Each size cap requires it's own end piece, so there were many different sized end pieces.

I hadn't really thought that much about metal mouthpiece caps, but the process was way more complicated than I would have imagined.  After final brazing, the cap is polished so that the braze line disappears, then lacquered or plated.  It was impressive to look at that many perfectly shiny caps, thousands of them, all lined up.  I'm used to seeing old tarnished and dented caps that are mismatched to the mouthpiece and ligature.

These ligatures, minus the screws, appear to be acid etched and ready for nickel plating.

Again, there were thousands of ligatures in all stages of fabrication.  I had never thought about how ligatures were manufactured, though I was aware that not ever tenor ligature fits every tenor mouthpiece.  Not by a long shot.  But seeing the stages of fabrication made it obvious that when a mouthpiece manufacturer like Riffault et Fils, Selmer, or Vandoren ordered ligatures for a certain size mouthpiece, a company like Hérouard & Bérnard could custom fabricate a perfect fit for that model.  

A jig representing the mouthpiece is fabricated.  The correct size metal strapping band is made and formed around the jig so that the ends leave the right amount of gap.  A little metal tube, with one half threaded, is brazed on across the gap.  Then the metal tube is cut in half, leaving a threaded piece on one side and an un-threaded piece on the other.  That way, it is perfectly aligned to fit the tightening screw.  (I always wondered how they got the screw holes between the two sides to line up perfectly.)  

The flat spot is where the metal tube is brazed on to the ligature band spanning the ends.  It is then cut in half on the indentation line, leaving one half with threads and the other un-threaded.

Then it's all polished (without deforming the soft brass!), plated or lacquered, quality inspected, and ready for sale.  Again, a much more complex and time consuming process than I would have imagined.

And although the stamping, bending, and brazing of the brass sheet metal doesn't sound too complicated, the machines and fabrication parts wear out and have to be repaired or re-manufactured on site.  Also, the tiny screws and screw barrels are machined on site with rather complicated CNC machinery.  So the facility that produces little ligatures and caps includes an elaborate machine shop that looks like this.

Although some of the fabrication machinery was state-of-the-art, there remained some equipment that had obviously served it's purpose for a long time.  

Every item goes through quality control.

Hérouard & Bérnard has branched out from the original M Martin salt shaker type of cap and two screw ligatures.  They are also the licensed producer of Bonade brand ligatures and caps, a line of single screw real leather ligatures similar in style to the familiar Rovner, as well as a line of traditional ligatures available with your custom logo on them.  

They also manufacture saxophone, clarinet, and flute pads, again an enterprise with a long history.  In 1827, a 27 year-old woman by the name of Valantine Chanu started fabricating clarinet pads for the local woodwind industry.  Her descendant (grandson?) married Madeleine Martin, later forming the Martin-Chanu company.  In 2007, a division of Martin-Chanu was purchased by Hérouard & Bérnard and they still makes pads for clarinet, saxophone, and flute.  They also fabricate resonators, including the on-site injection molding of the familiar brown plastic resonators sometimes referred to as "Selmer style" resonators. (Gosh, I wonder where Selmer gets theirs?)  The other division of Martin-Chanu continues on with making small precision parts, but not specifically for the woodwind industry.

Again, the woodwind pad making process is not as simple as I thought.  Leather, felt, and cardboard backing are all stamped out on a huge conveyor-belt type of punch.

Below, you can see some of the felt and "Martin-Chanu" logo card stock that has been previously punched for various size pads.

A complete line of resonators and rivets, with the "Selmer" style plastic resonator on the bottom left.

When I asked Mr. Chevreteau what type of leather they used, he just smiled and said "animal."  Okay, I get it.  There are some trade secrets involved.  I just thought that I would ask.

Each pad is then measured.  Even though the pad was stamped out to be a certain size, that is double checked at this work station.

As you might imagine, producing a full line of pads for the full range of clarinet, sax, and flute creates a bit of an inventory nightmare.  There were quite a few rows of shelving with bins and bins of pads.  In the foreground is the riveting station for adding a variety of different style rivets and resonators.

Hérouard & Bérnard also produces an extensive line of woodwind neck straps and harnesses, all fabricated in house.  (Sorry, no pictures of the sewing machines, etc.)  They market the straps under their own name as well as trademarked names that you have probably heard of.  One of their models is the Harnais Be Bop that allows the player more freedom of motion than a standard harness (to jump and jive?).

In 2001, Hérouard & Bérnard purchased Riffault et Fils and still produce a line of woodwind mouthpieces in a separate area of the same facility.  

Clarinet mouthpiece blanks ready to be hand finished as was done at Riffault et Fils. 

The area has a long history of one woodwind business helping another.  Below, Mr. Chevreteau explained, is a worker polishing the ebonite bell piece for a local clarinet manufacturer.  Hérouard & Bérnard has all of the equipment necessary for polishing ebonite because of its mouthpiece production.  Although this was normally the factory workers' day off, he found somebody willing to work "overtime" and do some fine finish work for one of the local woodwind businesses that purchases H&B accessories. 

  

Can you guess which French woodwind manufacturer this order of hand-finished clarinet mouthpieces is for?

As was traditionally the case with Riffault and Fils, many Hérouard & Bérnard mouthpieces go out the door with no embossing.  The "brand name" is added by the subsequent wholesale purchaser and then players swear by that brand name.

If you want to contact me with information on Riffault et Fils or Hérouard & Bérnard and not have your comment published in this blog, simply state that in the comment.  If you want me to contact you, you will need to include your email address with your comment.

Polishing a Vintage Hard Rubber Mouthpiece

I've seen a lot of posts on various saxophone websites about how to clean up an old oxidized hard rubber mouthpiece.  Hard rubber, if left in the sun or put under hot water, can quickly oxidized and leave a dull finish.  Sometimes leaving a ligature on the piece and leaving it out in daylight can "print" the shape of the ligature on to the mouthpiece.  Just look at "vintage hard rubber mouthpieces" on Ebay and you can see what I mean.

The oxidation is often accompanied by a sulfur smell.  The smell can be removed without cleaning up the mouthpiece, but I'm going to do both.  I know that I can polish for hours with a commercial polish like Simichrome or Flitz to remove the oxidized layer, but that is extremely slow.  It is also possible to start with something like 1500 grit wet/dry sandpaper (using water) and quickly remove the oxidized layer, but that seems too aggressive.  

I decided to try inexpensive fingernail polishing and buffing blocks used by manicurists.  Type in something like "nail polishing block" on Ebay and you will see what I mean.  They tend to have 4 sides with different grades of "sand paper" (it isn't really sand paper, it's way less aggressive).  They are about $1 each and one can do several mouthpieces.

I first tried it just on the beak to see how aggressive the roughest (#1) side was.

I used water here because I was concerned that the little sanding block would load up with ebonite.  Turns out that it works better without water.

You can see there is some brown residue on the block and the mouthpiece.  It seemed to be working.

 I continued to work through the rest of the abrasive levels and finished with #4.  Above is a picture where the polisher was only used in front of the ligature lines, so you can see how bad this mouthpiece was oxidized.  I can't reface a mouthpiece and have it look like that.

 Now I'm getting close.

I couldn't get the block in to the spot right in front of the bulb on the shank.  I'll have to use a string there.  But overall it worked just fine.  I still think that finishing with Simichrome will really get this to shine like new.  And, the sulfur smell is gone.  

After going through all of this with the fingernail polisher, I took out my old bottle of Brasso.  Yes, the bottle says that it is for brass, copper, stainless, aluminum, etc.  All metals.  How does it work on ebonite?  Very, very good.  It contains ammonia (so don't drink it) and a very mild abrasive.  The label says to avoid contact with skin and to wash it off of your hands if you get it on yourself.  That being said, I've never had any reaction to it.  You will see it quickly remove the brown oxidized ebonite, which will stain the polishing clothe (to the point that it can't be washed out).  So use a rag.  And wash off the mouthpiece before using it (quick rinse in cold water and dry it off).  It will not remove scratches, only the brown oxidized layer.

To keep it shiny, and prevent it from oxidizing again, I recommend wax.  There are lots of food grade waxes, like the black wax used on some cheese (although you might get a funky smell again).  I prefer to rub it down with plain old wax paper.  It is definitely food grade, but getting harder to find.

After all of this experimentation, I tried Brasso polishing compound.  It appears to be a mixture of kerosene and clay.  While it isn't anything that you would want to put in your mouth, it sure works.  Just make sure to wipe it clean when you are done polishing.  I've tried washing with cold soapy water after polishing a mouthpiece and even that can make a dull finish reappear.  Now I wipe really good and then use black food grade wax to seal it.

Removing a tooth gouge from a hard rubber mouthpiece

Just a short blog on tooth gouges.  They are quite common on older student pieces.  Children, like kittens, have sharp teeth.  Sometimes it ruins the piece.  More often, it just looks bad.  If the mouthpiece is a good vintage blank, and many of them are, we need to get rid of the gouges as part of the refacing project.

Here is a fairly common vintage mouthpiece that is often sold on Ebay as a "Meyer blank."  It isn't, but making that claim drives the prices up.  Not that this is a bad blank, but it only looks identical to a Meyer on the exterior.  The chamber is slightly different.  Maybe better?  Don't tell a Meyer fan that.

It cost me $13.  Anyway . . .

You can see the teeth marks left by the young weasel, I mean, student.  Below is a better look once I have roughed up the beak with a file.

There are a couple of things to watch for in this process.  First, make sure that you have enough thickness to work with.  I could tell from the first picture (and the picture on Ebay), that the gouge was cosmetic.  It is possible to measure the beak thickness at the gouge with an outside caliper if you are in doubt.  Just put one leg tip in the hole and the other inside the chamber.  Chances are you will have more than 2 mm, which is plenty of thickness to rework the beak.

The second thing to watch for is the thickness of the tip right at the tip rail.  I intend to open up the tip a little as part of the refacing and I will need that thickness.  So what I am doing is making a little bit of a "duck bill" shape to the beak.  If I use a flat file, it will likely reduce the tip thickness.  I have to use a half-round file and make sure to stop my strokes before I get to the tip.  I won't end up with a uniform slope, like a door stop, but it doesn't matter.  Some vintage pieces have a scoop shaped beak and it doesn't matter.  In fact, it can be an improvement.

You can see my half-round file (actually, a rasp) with ebonite in the teeth.  The depth of the rasp scratches are about the same as the remaining tooth marks, so it's time to switch to a finer file.  As I remove the rasp marks, I will take it down to the depth of the gouge, and that is all I need.  I don't need to rasp until the tooth gouge is completely gone and then change to less aggressive filing.

I have now moved to 400 grit paper.  If you look closely (click on the picture), you can still see a tiny spot remaining from the deeper of the two gouges.  That will disappear when I move on to 600 and 1500 grit paper.  Then it is polished and the beak is as good as new.  Maybe even better.

Besides cosmetics, there is another good reason to remove tooth gouges.  The depth of the gouge shown in the original picture tells us where the prior owner was "locked in" to a playing position.  That isn't likely to be the position that we want to be "locked into."  In fact, the original player probably didn't want to be locked in to that position.  If the player decided to take in more or less mouthpiece, either because of improving his embouchure or just temporarily for a certain sound, he will find that the gouges will take him back to the original position.

Getting rid of gouges can be more than cosmetic.