Klarinet Archive - Posting 000136.txt from 1998/05

From: Shoe <joshcole@-----.Edu>
Subj: Re: [kl] Repairs
Date: Tue, 5 May 1998 16:03:02 -0400

On Tue, 5 May 1987, James Rosen wrote:

> How does a "Streetized" clarinet compare to a "Pleasantized" one or . . .
> I want to know where the best place to get my horns done is. I just paid a
> few hundred for a "Streetization" - seemed quite reasonable to me, and the
> results were excellent. Thoughts?

Define Streetized! This is a toughy. I've never played on an instrument
that has been Streetized. I can tell you roughly what John Pleasant did
to the instrument, and you can judge for yourself, although Dr. Borchert
would know more along the technical side of what "Pleasantized" means.
>From what I can recall, John Pleasant lowered the register key a bit to
where the Bb using A key and RK is not as sharp. It also seems to allow
the clarion and altissimo registers to speak much more clearly. He also
sanded the speaker tube (the tube that protrudes from the RK), so that may
have also contributed to the ease of getting out the upper registers. He
oiled the bore, leveled the keys (the previous owner took very bad care of
it!), realigned the bridge, repadded the whole thing, tightened some of
the springs (in essence putting more of a spring back action), and some
other stuff (the most technical aspect of my observation -- some other
stuff). That's all I can remember for now. The clarinet speaks much more
clearly in all registers, especially the altissimo! I can get notes above
F#3 (which are all over the place in Philip Spark's pieces!!) with less
fuzziness and better tuning. Now all I have to do is learn how to play
the darn thing!!! John Pleasant has done a great deal of work on the
instrument. He really seems to like working with his customers, getting
their feedback.

Okay, so I've written enough.

How does the Streetized instrument play? I'm very curious!! At any rate,
good luck!

Joshua M. Coleman
http://web.nmsu.edu/~joshcole

"Every man dies... not every man really lives."
-- William Wallace, Braveheart

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