Klarinet Archive - Posting 000504.txt from 1998/08

From: ROBERT HOWE <arehow@-----.net>
Subj: [kl] Re: Buffet clarinet cracks
Date: Tue, 18 Aug 1998 00:22:19 -0400

A writer noted this:
".... Huh? Ritter explained that the newer R13's are
inferior to the older one in terms of wood quality, and that far too
many
of them crack in the joints the first year. He said he stopped carrying
them new a few years ago because if an instrument sat in the case for
awhile, and a customer came in to buy a new horn, the instrument would
have
grown a joint crack without ever having been played. He said he stopped
carrying them as new instruments for that reason.

He did not define "new" and "old," so I have no idea how many years back
we're talking about.

This is touchy stuff because Francois Kloc is probably reading this, but
I
am reporting back what was told to me in an un-private conversation."

I believe this is true, but a universal phenomenon, rather than a Buffet
problem. Loree oboes all are expected to crack (my new one in 1996 did
so after 8 weeks) wheras this was an unusual catastrophe in my youth.
The quality of grenadilla seems to us moderately-oldtimers to be falling
as stocks are depleted and the demand for instruments of professional
quality reaches new high levels. So don't blame Buffet.

BTW, my R13 Bb clarinet (purchased 1994) gets hard use for 16 or so
weeks each year in the summer and sits in the case the rest of the
time. The silver is still clean and the wood is still intact without
cracks. And I don't baby it the slightest bit.

Robert Howe

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