Klarinet Archive - Posting 000093.txt from 1994/06

From: Jordan Selburn <jordan@-----.COM>
Subj: Re: Rossi clarinet
Date: Tue, 21 Jun 1994 11:26:11 -0400

Luis Rossi is a clarinet maker in Chile (and from all accounts, an
extraordinary player as well). There are several characteristics which
make his clarinets distinct:

- a 1-piece body, i.e. no separate upper and lower joints;

- optional use of other woods instead of grendilla - this one was made
of rosewood and was gorgeous;

- availability in 3 different bores: English (large bore), French
(smaller bore) and American (new - I don't have the specifics). Note
that some other makers such as Eaton also produce more than one bore.

They are not inexpensive at ~$2900 each, but this isn't any more than
you'd pay for an Opus or Prestige. I came across them in San Francisco
as part of my seemingly never-ending search for a new set of clarinets.

I have a question on the 1-piece body. Rossi claims that this allows
him to put keys such as the C#/G# in the proper position thus improving
intonation. But it seems that the trade-off is that Rossi doesn't have
as much flexibility with the bore as he has fewer access points (see the
recent discussion on the 2-piece Buffet Eb). How much do other
manufacturers take advantage of this with fancy bore shapes, and does it
really help?

Regards,
Jordan
jordan@-----.org