Klarinet Archive - Posting 000274.txt from 1997/09

From: Bill Hausmann <bhausman@-----.com>
Subj: Re: Those idiot repair persons
Date: Sat, 6 Sep 1997 17:28:54 -0400

It may surprise some people to hear that I have no quarrel at all with
Clark Fobes remarks below.

At 12:23 AM 9/6/97 -0500, you wrote:
> I have been following the thread on repair work only sporadically, but
some interesting
>things came up that I would like to address.
>
> There are a lot of hardworking, honest and sincere repair people out
there. There are also
>a few who have absolutley no business even holding a screwdriver. And
there are a VERY few who
>really have dedicated a large part of our lives to taking instrument
repair to a very high level
>of craft. An even smaller group know something about acoustics and are
qualified to make
>acoustical adjustments. The vast majority belongs to the first group.
>
> When you take your clarinet to be repaired by ANYONE it is important to
understand exactly
>what the technician intends to do to your instrument and how much he will
charge. If he or she
>cannot spell it out to you almost down to the number of pads that will be
replaced then you need
>to look for another person.
>
> Refacing tone holes is , for me, a very common practice, I have to dress
even new clarinet
>tone holes to make the pad seat clear of chips or flaws. The amount of
material that is removed
>is probably on the order of less that .001". This process , unfortunately,
is often done by even
>the most inexperienced technician just because he owns the tool. If you
are not confident about
>the level of experience of your local repair guy ask colleagues, teachers,
pros and find out who
>does the best work in your area.
>
> I am big on finding someone locally to repair your instruments. You never
know when that
>emergency may come up. I do work on instruments from all over the country,
but it is usually
>when the customer has given up hope in his area.
>
> AND, I hate to sound like a snob, but if your repair person cannot play
the clarinet even
>moderatley well, most of the fine details that make a clarinet play really
well will probably
>escape him.
>
>
> Clark W Fobes
>
>
>

Bill Hausmann bhausman@-----.com
451 Old Orchard Drive http://www.concentric.net/~bhausman
Essexville, MI 48732 http://members.wbs.net/homepages/z/o/o/zoot14.html

If you have to mic a saxophone, the rest of the band is too loud.