Klarinet Archive - Posting 000500.txt from 1996/08

From: "Joie Canada , Jcanada713@-----.COM>
Subj: Re: Pruefer?
Date: Mon, 19 Aug 1996 09:13:35 -0400

I got my first clarinet (an A Albert system) many many years ago for $3 at a
yard sale and drove everybody crazy with it (it played well but not in the
right key for the band). My mother gave it away when I went to school and
didn't take it with me but I sure wish I still had it. I got another (Bb
plastic at a pawn shop for $15 and played it for years, then found a nice old
French Selmer wood clarinet in a gun shop for $25. It's keys were green with
mold and the wood was grey, but when I put my mouthpiece on it with a good
reed, it went up and down the whole chromatic scale accurately and sweetly
without a hitch. I paid and ran, believe me! I still use it (after a
rebuild and new pads, it paid even better) and I love it. I have no idea how
old it is--it has a crack in the bell and a chip on the edge of one of the
tone holes (in the inset part, not the actual hole) and the plating is worn
through on many keys but it is a sweet instrument. I found a neat Db piccolo
at a yard sale but they knew it was not a toy and I had to pay $80. Yard
sales, pawn shops, junk shops, hooray! Take along a mouthpiece and good
reed, or medium strength cheap reeds for saxophone if you are looking for one
of those and a pocket full of beat up small bills and don't dress
up--starving musicians might be able to niggle the price down a bit. A bit
of knowledge about how to reseat pads on an emergency basis and a little
screwdriver, some cork grease and kleenex and glue to improvise for missing
pads--also dental floss to tie joint corks on if loose--just a regular "first
aid kit" and don't plan on anything but good fun. You might end up going
home with a stuffed moose instead, but the shopping is as good as a vacation.
(no, I didn't buy the stuffed moose)

Joie

   
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