Klarinet Archive - Posting 000121.txt from 1994/02

From: Cary Karp <nrm-karp@-----.SE>
Subj: Re: Older clarinets
Date: Thu, 10 Feb 1994 17:47:15 -0500

On Thu, 10 Feb 1994, Dr. Ronald P. Monsen wrote:

> PS: I have also been told that if the bore gets really (LH) gucked up the
> horn plays bery poorly indeed. Keep your bores clean--I've got some clarinets
> with 289,000 miles+ on them and the bore still looks like a good skeet gun.

I have to confess that the aging problem has me more than slightly
perplexed. I suspect that I've worked more with really old clarinets than
anyone else on this list and would like to think that I know a bit about
the mechanisms of aging and their musical consequences, as well as their
remedial treatment. The problem is that I can't see any clear reason for
the reduction in playing quality of grenadilla instruments that are only
a few decades old -- either as I have observed it, myself, or as others
report it.

One thing's for sure, though, and that is that repeated swabbing -- which
keeps the bore looking like a skeet gun -- removes material from the
surface of the bore and thereby changes its dimensions. It's quite
possible that this effect is adequate to explain the entire problem. I've
got a few other suspicions which I'll enumerate if the subject turns out
to be a "hot" one. As a laboratory exercise I may end up seeing what I can
do about restoring my trusty old R13 #49241. Whatever has caused it to
tire hasn't been helped by the standard battery of commercial overhaul
procedures.