Klarinet Archive - Posting 000302.txt from 1999/01

From: Dan Sutherland <dsuther@-----.ca>
Subj: Re: [kl] Re: Plastic - why?
Date: Fri, 8 Jan 1999 23:48:11 -0500

Jettison the Bundy. Other than several early examples of south Asian or
hard rubber 30 year old made in France with metal liner Thibault clarinets
I have yet to run into an instrument so inadequate. It is pitched
ridiculously sharp, its keys are big, rounded and absurdly bendable, Its
ring keys are rounded to the extent that closing them is a gradual process
causing the player not to know if a seal has been made or not. The scale is
uneven [the blowing resistance and qualities of sound from one note to the
next]. It has been criminally marketed under different brand names
including Boosey and Hawkes, King, Oh its late and the other names don't
come to mind right now.
The general blowing resistance is high causing poor yield for effort
and consequently formation of poor habits. The best advice I could ever
give a student armed with a Bundy is to throw it against the nearest
available wall and walk away. They could make good vampire impalers.

I don't really have an opinion on the matter. So if anyone disputes what
I have said I agree with them entirely or make that 110% after all our
world is ruled by pro athlete icons and 100% is really not enough.

Plastic clarinets in order of my hypothetical preferrance:

Artly [good scale mellow interesting sound]
Vito [great key work decent pitch and scale. older models tend to break
in the middle if you sit on them]
Armstrong, Buffet [best attributes, completely uninteresting]
Yamaha [shrill and thin sound, worst most closed stock mouthpiece]
Bundy [serial killer]

Dan [a little testy tonight].

At 19:34 08/01/99 EST, you wrote:
>Although I'm no big fan of plastic clarinets, I agree with Dee, Paulette and
>others who think people should keep their Bundys. Take it from a flea market
>and yard sale veteran: a used Bundy isn't worth squat in dollars and cents,
>because used Bundys are so commonplace. The repairman who sometimes takes
>used instruments from me on consignment specifically warned me never to bring
>him any plastic Bundys for sale, "because I can get them for next to nothing
>from the schools." But that cheap re-sale value is exactly why a used Bundy
>gives such good value as a "player." IMHO, anybody who hasn't got one (or
>another good plastic horn, such as a Vito or Yamaha) ought to run right out
>and buy one used, as a sturdy, weather-resistant backup and outdoor horn.
>
>I own some reasonably nice gear, including a 1937 wooden Buffet Bb and a 1979
>Selmer "A" series alto clarinet. This summer, I took my own advice and
bought
>myself a used plastic Bundy Bb, probably about ten years old, including a
Hite
>Premiere mpc, for $35. It came from a family whose kid quit, but if you
still
>play, and already own one, why let someone else take such a bargain out of
>your pocket? Keep it!
>
>This Bundy isn't in the same league with a professional instrument, of
course,
>and won't be my first- line clarinet, but it's a lot better than I expected
>after reading the usual negative press about the Bundy, mostly from kids who
>can't wait to get rid of their grade school instruments. But then I'm a
>50-year-old adult, so I don't have to prove I'm mature by buying an "adult"
>clarinet. That's some of what's really going on with all the peer
pressure to
>jettison the Bundy, IMHO: It's a ritual casting off of childhood, a logical
>next step, a few years after refusing to wear the pajamas with feet. Maybe
>people automatically associate the Bundy with the awful noises beginners
make,
>too. Okay: If the Bundy seems unbearably babyish right now, just put it away
>for a few years, since it isn't worth anything anyway. Then you won't
have to
>go pay $35 at a yard sale or flea market (or a lot more than that in a
store!)
>for another one later.
>
>I found out a more legitimate reason why some people don't like the Bundy
when
>I tried the original Bundy mpc also in the case with my horn. Worst beak
I've
>ever used! I'm keeping it in my "take bag" that drags around to flea mkts.
>and yard sales with me, rather than abuse a good mpc. that way, so the Bundy
>mpc., too, will serve a purpose, thanks to its utter expendability. The
Bundy
>might get more respect if it came with a better beak.
>
>Lelia
>
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