Dear friends, colleagues, and clients,
Almost
a year ago, my wife and I were having lunch at our favorite restaurant,
when my phone dinged. I received an e-mail saying that Hans Zinner
& Co would be closing their doors in just a few weeks! I had been
their customer for 20 years, using their superb blanks as a base for all
my mouthpieces. This caused an immediate quandary: What would we do
when my stock of blanks was used up? Should we look for another blank
maker? Produce our own blanks? Retire? As you can imagine, we had quite a
lunchtime conversation!
Well,
after months of research and study, I am proud to announce that I am
now producing my own mouthpieces from my own blank designs. I call them
the Grabner HiTech Clarinet Mouthpieces, and they are available for all
clarinets from E-flat through contra bass. My mouthpieces are produced
using cutting-edge, 21st-century technologies. They are designed using
CAD software and realized through very high-end 3D printing. The designs
are traditional with subtle improvements that meet the demands placed
on the 21st century clarinetist.
The Grabner HiTech Clarinet Mouthpieces had a great kickoff at the
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Clarinet Day, and are now
available to order from this website. See below for ordering
instructions. Shipments will begin on April 9.
The mouthpieces also will be available at select music stores such as Howarth of London, and will be exhibited at ClarinetFest® 2019, in Knoxville, July 24-28. Stop by to say, “Hello.”
Warmest regards,
Walter
P.S.
- I have been asked several times why I chose 3D printing for the
manufacture of my mouthpieces, and about the material I selected. Click here for a little bit more information.
P.P.S. - Reviews are starting to come in:
Walter. I just wanted you to know this mouthpiece (S2MO) is great. I tried a couple of
other reeds on it (at home) ........and it played better than ever. I think you are indeed on to something
here!!! - Howard Green, prominent Chicago area clarinetist.
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To Order Mouthpieces:
I have some Zinner-based mouthpieces available. The table
below will tell you what Zinner-based mouthpieces I have left, and tell you what new model replaces them.
If you want to order one
of the few remaining Zinner-based mouthpieces, click on any of the remaining underlined links in the first column.
In the third column, you may
click on the links to get the
description of, and to order, my new Grabner HiTech Mouthpieces.
If you are not familiar with my old mouthpiece naming nomenclature, Click here,
and you can select the new Grabner HiTech Clarinet Mouthpieces by function and pitch. Then you can
browse in your category, until you are ready to drill down to your
special selection.
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Another New Product - Grabner HiTech Custom Clarinet Barrels
These
high-end barrels are made of a wide range of materials, using CNC
and/or 3-D printing techniques. They are made to order based on your
needs.
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