Mouthpiece drifting - dry top lip?

[DSR]

Hello everyone,

I've been pondering switching to playing with a dry top lip. When I'm playing, and in particular when I'm fatigued, I find the mouthpiece really likes to slide around on the top lip as I go from low register to the high register. My malocclusion may have something to do with it. Since I'm an upstream player should I play with a dry top lip? I tried playing that way today and I could hardly get a sound to come out, not to mention finding my placement was next to impossible. Will it take a while to make the switch?

What are your thougths?

-Brendan

[hairy james]

Brendan,

Before you go crazy and switch to a dry top lip, try this first.

Go to any hardware store and buy the finest grade steel wool that they make, it's called " four X " in other words it says xxxx on the bag. I don't know if you have Home Depot in Canada but that is where I bought mine.

Put the steel wool in the palm of your hand and gently press the rim of your mouthpiece into in and rotate it. It will take the sheen off the silver and put tiny hairline scratches in it. Don't worry about it taking the silver down to the brass, I took an old mouthpice and tested it to see how many times I would have to rotate it before I went through the silver plate. It was well over 200 times before I saw any brass coming through.

Doing this will give your rim an amazing grip on your chops without having to "go dry". You will feel the improved grip right away.

Kenny Titmus at Warburton Mouthpieces discovered this when I asked him to copy Doc's #2 in plastic. He figured that the plastic rim grips your chops in a certain way and if he copied the mouthpiece in metal the "grip factor" would be lost. So after he plated it, he gave it the once over with the steel wool.

Kenny and I have been doing this on all our mouthpieces ever since.

Try it and let me know how it works out. And remember that if you don't like it a little silver polish will bring it right back to the way it was before you steel wooled it.

Chris

[DSR]

I play on a gold plated MP...can I still do this?

[Wilktone]

[hairy james]

Brendan my friend,

LOOSE THE GOLD PLATING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

If Doc where here he would tell you NEVER to play a gold plated rim. Why? You ask, well for one thing many people are allergic to gold. They walk around with pimples and zits on their chops never knowing that it's from the gold plating.

Hey I remember you saying that you have a discolored ring or mark on your chops after you play. I'll bet you thats an allergic reaction to the gold.

The other thing is that gold is just too damn slippery. You as a low placed type IV who gets a dark ring on his chops after playing should be the last person in the world to play a gold plated mouthpiece.


One more thing.......... Are you wiping the "pore oil" off of your chops once and a while when you play. Pore oil gets squeezed out of your skin from the mouthpiece pressure, if you mix pore oil and saliva you get as Doc would say; " Skating rink facilities".

Chris

[DSR]

THANK YOU CHRIS!

This is almost starting to make sense now. I may be allergic to the gold. I come out of a jazz band rehearsal and my lips are almost always purple and slightly swollen where I place the mouthpiece.

About the pore oil thing, my father already advised me about that. He said that Doc told him to wash his embouchure with a little soap and water after playing, or between playing sessions, to get the oil off.

At university here I eat all my meals at a cafeteria and the food is practically 100% grease. Thursday night I had practiced for an hour without washing off my face afterwards. (and I get very oily skin) I then proceeded to eat supper, probably got a little more grease on my skin. Then I went to jazz band and played on my smooth gold MP with tired and sore lips. And I'm an upstream player! No wonder I kept sliding around!

Before I go and purchase an expensive MP, I'm going to get my dad to send me an old silver Bach 3C (that has a fairly flat rim right?) and I'm going to see if I still get the discoloration and irritation. I'll also get him to send me a plastic rimmed Giardinelli. What do you think of this?

Now that I think back to one of my older posts, I remember saying that there was no irritation. I was mistaken. Since then the gold mouthpiece has been making the white of my lower lip itchy and sore to place to mouthpiece on. If I wait a day or two it goes away.

I know individuality plays a big role in the mark that the MP leaves after playing a long time, but the other night I watched a two hour U of S Wind Orchestra concert. The trumpets were playing solid (with breaks of course) the whole time. The lead player at the end didn't have any discernable ring on his lips. Some of the other players had but faint red rings. And here I play for 2 minutes and my lips have a dark ring.

Thank you again.

[hairy james]

Brendan,

Doc once said that about 80% of people where allergic to gold. It's true most of us wear gold jewelry but thats not the same as ramming that mouthpiece into your face for four hours on a gig.

As far as the pore oil goes, see if you can find Mifflin Wintergreen Alcohol. Doc highly recommended this to take the pore oil off your chops. I've been carrying around a little bottle of it in my case for over twenty years.

You don't have to change mouthpieces, get the extra fine steel wool that I told you about and very carefully rub the gold plate off your mouthpiece. Gold is very soft ( a lot softer than silver ) and since every gold plated mouthpiece is silver plated first, all you have to do is gently buff off that gold until you get down to the silver plate underneath it and stop. You don't have to do the whole mouthpiece, just the rim.

Good luck, and let me know how it turns out. If you have any questions please call me. You still have my number right?

Chris

[DSR]

Chris,

I've still got your number. Thanks again.

I called my father tonight and said he would could get my mouthpiece silver plated over the gold for me if I wanted. Should I just sand it down as you said...probably cheaper right?

You have been a great help.

-Brendan

[bgibson]

Chris;
Remember Doc said that a plastic or raw brass rim does not move.
Doc told me to put a coat of clear fingernail polish over the rim and play on your mouthpiece, if you had a reaction after the fingernail polish wore off then you were allergic to gold (or silver or raw brass).
Doc then told me the story about Almont. He made solid silver mouthpieces, Tommy Dorsey used one.
WEG