Klarinet Archive - Posting 000612.txt from 1999/06

From: Ken Wolman <kwolman@-----.net>
Subj: Re: [kl] Kohlert clarinets
Date: Sat, 19 Jun 1999 09:25:24 -0400

>The bass clarinet is not nearly as good. All of the keys *appear* to be
>there, on or off the instrument, but there are several screws missing.
>It only goes to low E also. While looking at it, pads and corks (and a
>few keys) were falling into my lap so it would need a lot of work. It
>seems to be rather old. The wood is very light in color (although dried
>out) and looks like rosewood, a lot like barrels of cocobolo that I have
>seen (and will hopefully buy soon!) Also, this I found rather curious,
>connecting to the resonance hole which is operated by I think the third
>RH finger key (?)--i think this is on every bass clarinet, there is a
>lever which extends up the instrument and mirrors the usual bridge a few
>centimeters over. This rod continues up the side of the upper joint and
>connects somewhere in the register vent mechanism. What is the purpose
>of this? The instrument is unplayable so i can't really try it myself.

I can only recount a brief experience with a Kohlert bass while I was
scouting out instruments for my girlfriend's son. A repairman in Manhattan
had a Kohlert for $900. The instrument looked real nice: indeed, it looked
like rosewood. The neck had a deep curve that reminded me of pictures I've
seen of a Bay neck. So I came back my personal setup--out-of-the-box
Selmer D mouthpiece, No. 2 tenor sax reed, Bonade ligature--to give it a
workout.

First problem? Actually a knockout factor right there: the mouthpiece
didn't fit into the neck. I don't mean it was a TIGHT fit that would
require a pint of cork grease, it was a NO-fit. The diameter of the
fitting did not match the mouthpiece. So I had to play on the thing with
the mouthpiece that was on the horn.

Second problem? I'm by now used to playing on a bass, but this thing had a
resistance in all ranges that made me feel like I was trying to get notes
out a car tailpipe. And the sounds I COULD make were nothing special: it
was not even as rich and even a tone as I get out of my Bundy, which
probably IS made out of PVC:-).

Use bass clarinets tend to fly out of stores in New York, but that beast is
still hanging on a hook in Rod Baltimore's shop. "Why did they hang that
clarinet?" "They couldn't find the guy who made it."

In any case, playing the Malerne (the one the kid bought for a hundred
bucks less than the Kohlert) at Roberto's was a revelation by comparison.
And we won't even get into the glories of the Selmer pro horn he had there
for 3K....

Maybe Kohlert horns as a rule are better than the one I tried, but I'd be
seriously cautious. I guess the occasional lemon is inevitable, but you
don't try to drill holes in it.

Ken

Kenneth Wolman kwolman@-----.net
"From the Meadowlands": http://www.geocities.com/SoHo/Gallery/1649

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