Klarinet Archive - Posting 000315.txt from 1996/04

From: Neil Leupold <nleupold@-----.EDU>
Subj: Re: Relax about cracks?!
Date: Thu, 11 Apr 1996 13:55:28 -0400

> Unless I'm mistaken, most repairmen
> don't charge too much to pin cracks, so what's the point in putting repair
off?

Well, you are mistaken, but the question which follows your statement is
still very germane. A qualified repairman, doing a first-rate job,
will charge between $40 and $60 per pin. I may be a bit off on the
details, but I think a 1 - 1.5 inch crack would require 3 pins. Multiply
that by $50 average. Not exactly cheap, but consider the alternatives:
buying an entirely new joint, or selling the whole instrument and buying
a whole new clarinet. If a pin is done well and the wood responds
favorably, there will be no notable change in timbre, response, or
intonation after the repair is complete. The instrument may be used as
if there had never been a problem. Some players are psychologically very
sensitive, though, and refuse to accept that a pinned clarinet is not
somehow inferior than a clarinet that has not been pinned. I've heard of
people immediately selling their instruments (at a loss) and buying a new
one exclusively because they had a crack pinned. It takes all kinds, I
guess.

Neil