I've been playing clarinet for a few years, I'm currently using a 20+ year old Selmer Signet with 3.5 Vandoren reeds. Anyways, when I first bought my clarinet on ebay, I was told by clarinet instructor to just chuck the mouthpiece that came with it away. I kept it as a backup, and I was instead using a Debut mouthpiece that was like 35$ at a local music shop. Well finally, yesterday, I took out my old mouthpiece for the very first time, and there just engraved (it's not even gold anymore) was "Vandoren" and under it was B45. Surprising I guess. I have a few issues with it...

- It smells, I don't know why, there's no mold or anything, it just kind of like burning rubber in a way.

- I noticed the top part is actually slightly wider than my reed, and this is a huge difference compared with my Debut mouthpiece. It just seems that the reed doesn't fit as well onto the mouth piece.

- My tone quality significantly drops in the notes just in higher than lowest C, and lower than middle C. I'm getting a much duller tone, and not matter how hard I try, I can't get nearly as shart as my Debut mouthpiece. Also, to reach the same tone I was getting on my other mouthpiece, I have to put much more pressure on the reed to get that fizzly noice away.

And finally as an unrelated question, is it just me, or do like half the reeds I get in a Vandoren Box of 10 suck much more than the Mitchel Lurie counterparts? I'm not really experience with sanding or cutting, maybe I should begin to learn.

Anyone get similar experiences as me? Than help me out please. Thanks

I have a Vandoren B45, too, except I don't have another one. I'm actually in the process of getting a new one hopefully. I play on a Buffet R13, but I used the Vandoren back when I played on a Leblanc...

I get that fizzly tone too sometimes, and it's really annoying. I wonder if it's a student model? I'm not sure. Whatever the case, I'm not a fan of it either.

Any suggestions on a new mouthpiece?

I had a lesson with a guy, and he recommended the Hawkins B mouthpiece. I'm gonna order a few of those and see how I like them.

Haha I feel really dodgy now.. good ol' Yammy..

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Oh yeh, Shizzam, I can't help. I suggest you play whatever mouth piece 1) produces the best sound, 2) you feel totally comfortable with, and 3) looks the prettiest ;-).

Currently I am playing on a Van Doren 5RV and am getting a much better tone quality than that of any of my previous mouthpieces, if that helps at all. they do cost as much as $110 though

If you paid $110 for a 5RV...I have a three legged pigged to sell you. You should only have to spend around 65 dollars for it. Another thing, to the original poster, chuck the reeds. Go with a Mitchell Lurie Premium 3 or a shaved down 3.5 if the 3 is too soft. Vandoren reeds are some of the most horrible to play in the world. You never get a good amount out of the box to make it worth spending money on them. They take WAY too much modification to make them playable. I play on a B45 with Mitchell Lurie 3.5 reeds. I shave down with a straight edge razor blade from the heart to the tip. I take a little heart out, but a good amount of the tip off because the 3.5 has quite a thick tip on it. Another thing, I said this before, but haven't had time to do it again, but I also have soaked the 3.5's in hot green tea for ten minutes. No shaving required for me! Good Luck!

-Dennis