About me

I started working on my vision as early as 2003; my aim was to perfect the best of the existing mouthpieces and to reproduce them for the general public as well as to optimize them individually for each musician. With this in mind, I came up with the idea of replacing the cork as a plug-in connection between mouthpiece and barrel with exchangeable O-rings of various thicknesses, allowing the connection to be adjusted quickly and easily.

I had this invention protected by a utility model in 2004 in order to obtain exclusive rights; other mouthpiece manufacturers have since adopted this sealing system.Together with Ing. Martin Fluch, I founded the company maxton in 2008 for the purpose of selling my mouthpieces; I sold my shares in the company back to Martin Fluch in 2016. Following a period of mutual cooperation until March 2019, my own company, Gleichweit, was reopened on April 1, 2019. 

The well-known mouthpieces have since been available again directly from myself, and numerous new concepts have also been implemented that are certainly worth trying out. By no means have I yet reached my limits; I am constantly developing further in order to always be up to date, to respond to the constantly changing reed situation and to be able to satisfy the individual needs of musicians. Working with outstanding professional clarinetists, I am able to continually discover new aspects and develop ideas for improvement. I love the "work" involved in dealing with people and reflecting on problems with them, working out together what it takes to come as close as possible to perfection.

Perfection in sound and playing feel can be defined in different ways for each musician, which is why I not only make my mouthpieces accessible to everyone, but can also design mouthpieces that are specifically tailored to each musician during a consultation. Whether professional, advanced, beginner or hobby clarinetist - it is my passion to help everyone enjoy playing the clarinet. This pursuit of perfection together with world-famous soloists, experienced orchestral musicians or even passionate amateurs has been very enriching for me and gives me great pleasure.

Johannes Gleichweit