Klarinet Archive - Posting 000292.txt from 1997/09

From: reedman@-----.com
Subj: "Blueprinting" Clarinets & Bill Hausmann's comments
Date: Sat, 6 Sep 1997 23:19:10 -0400

Because I receive the Klarinet list in Digest format I cannot snip
quotes. Sorry!

Bill Hausmann maintains in an earlier posting that clarinets from the factory
should be within in normal tolerances and require only minor
adjustments. Sorry, Bill, but I don't think you have seen the steady
stream of new instruments that I have and you are just flat out
wrong.

When I was selling clarinets, part of my price included
a two hour work up that included replacing AT LEAST a half dozen
pads. This was not some "trick" chicanery, but very necessary
work just to make the instruments play within specifications.

Further, I am one of a very few dealers who would fly to (city name deleted) and
play through approximately 50 (major brand name) clarinets in order to come back with
10-12 for my shop. Being a repair person I can usually recognize
a diamond in the rough, but some instruments I just had to reject out of hand
due to severe mechanical or acoustical problems. I believe these problems
are industry wide and reflect the fact that most major makers crank out
thousands of clarinets per year. Fortunately, the basic design of these instruments
is fine and can be "tweaked" into very fine instruments.

Of course, the level of performance that one expects from his instrument
may not exceed "factory ready" specs and in that case my entire argument
is moot.

Clark W Fobes

   
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