Klarinet Archive - Posting 000512.txt from 1999/02

From: HatNYC62@-----.com
Subj: [kl] Post-Factory adjustment
Date: Sun, 14 Feb 1999 14:53:34 -0500

In a message dated 2/14/99 4:13:51 AM, klarinet-digest-help@-----.org writes:

<< I never stop tinkering with my instruments, either, trying to get that last
"molecule per millenium" of air leak out, etc. But something as major as
undercutting needed to correct intonation just tells me they didn't do it
right in the first place and arrogantly expect you to pay someone else to
have it fixed right. At the prices charged for professional-grade
instruments, that is ludicrous! You might as well save some money and go
buy a Selmer 100 or a Normandy and have IT adjusted! >>

This is just nonesense. Professional clarinets ARE cheap. VERY CHEAP. Compared
to a handmade flute for $6,000+ (for which you may have to wait several years)
or a $12,000+ bassoon, we have a great deal.

When it comes to undercutting, there is a simple rule: once you take the wood
out, you can't put it back. I have no problem spending a few hundred to
customize an instrument to my taste, especially if it ultimately saves me a
few thousand over what a handmade instrument would cost and satisfies my
professional needs. If the clarinet were completely 'finished' at the factory,
that would limit its appeal to those who pick it up and find it perfect as it
is. . .you can't put the wood back in the holes.

Every mouthpiece plays a different scale, as does every player. Two players
playing the same clarinet, mouthpiece and reed will produce different
intonation (though they might inherit certain tendencies from the setup). You
can't expect a 'one size fits all' approach to tuning an instrument. If Buffet
or anyone else took the approach "the instruments are perfect as they leave
the factory, if you have a problem with intonation, it's you" THAT would be
extreme arrogance, in my opinion.

David Hattner, NYC

-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Unsubscribe from Klarinet, e-mail: klarinet-unsubscribe@-----.org
Subscribe to the Digest: klarinet-digest-subscribe@-----.org
Additional commands: klarinet-help@-----.org
Other problems: klarinet-owner@-----.org