Klarinet Archive - Posting 000416.txt from 1999/12

From: LeliaLoban@-----.com
Subj: [kl] Mouthpiece for 1897 eefer?
Date: Wed, 15 Dec 1999 10:51:54 -0500

I recently bought Buffet Eb soprano clarinet made in 1897. It's Albert
system. It came with an old, unmarked rubber mouthpiece that's broken (three
pieces out of the tip) and glued back together. This looks like amateur
work, rather sloppy, almost certainly done by the flea market dealer. Looks
as though he buffed it down pretty hard on the outside. He left it somewhat
uneven on the inside. I don't expect this repair to hold together for five
minutes of normal playing, since the breaks are right in the beak where the
top teeth press down. Even if the glue holds, I doubt that the mpc will play
well, because I think he probably wrecked it by buffing down the tip.

I watched the dealer buy this eefer right out from under my nose, at another
flea market a few weeks before he sold the clarinet to me. He proudly showed
it off to me. He said, "Isn't this kind of *small* for a clarinet?" Groan.
(I played nice -- told him the truth, instead of telling him it was a toy and
I'd be happy to take it off his hands for $15....) He's a pro guitarist who
keeps saying he wants to learn to play sax or clarinet. He's accumulated
several instruments, mostly low end, student quality, since he doesn't know
the difference. Hooboy, do I wish I'd reached that vendor ahead of him,
because the mouthpiece was intact then. The clarinet came with no case. The
dealer didn't give him a bag. I carry a couple of extra plastic bags, so I
offered him one. He said naah, he didn't need one. A short time after the
guy walked off with the clarinet, my husband saw him frantically crawling
around the parking lot on his hands and knees. He looked upset and seemed to
be feeling around on the ground for something small. I'll bet anything he'd
just dropped the mouthpiece and he was hunting for the pieces!

Oh, and that's not all. In the weeks before he put the clarinet up for
re-sale, he helpfully replaced the corks, with cork so thick the clarinet
can't be put together -- and managed to chip the edge of one of the tenons in
the process, I think, because the tenon is filthy, but the inside of that
chip looks clean. At the bottom of the chip, a hairline crack about 1/8"
long goes through to the bore. If the crack runs, it will head straight for
a tone hole. Unfortunately, I didn't find the crack when I bought the
instrument. I thought it would be a fairly simple matter for my repairman to
fill the small chip with a mixture of ebony dust and epoxy. My mistake --
haven't found out yet what a proper repair will cost -- but what a bummer
that a clarinet that survived more than 100 years with no damage got
seriously hurt less than a month before I bought it. Well, maybe I would
have taken a chance on buying this clarinet anyway, for $50. (The math is
never straightforward on these deals: I saw the guy pay $30 for the clarinet;
he lowered the value by monkeying with it; but he sold it with a Bundy Bb
case in good condition.)

Why do dealers who know nothing about clarinets think they can conceal the
need for restoration work? Why don't they have the sense to sell "as is" so
that somebody who knows what s/he's doing can take care of the problems
appropriately, without inflicting more damage?! ~!=#$%^&*! At least he
didn't mess around with the pads, which are totally shot. Good thing he left
them alone, or else he probably would have bent up the keys, too. Grrr....

Anyhow, about the mouthpiece.... First, would it be at all worthwhile to
have a professional mouthpiece guru work on the antique mouthpiece if/when
the amateur repair comes apart? Or is a broken rubber mouthpiece a lost
cause?

Second, I don't want to pay for a custom made mouthpiece right now, because
I've never played an eefer before and am not at all sure I'll like it enough
stick with it. Generally, I prefer anything low-pitched to anything
high-pitched. Still, I need to be able to give the instrument a fair chance
after it's restored. I'm not sure the old mpc is in good enough shape for me
to make sure the clarinet isn't leaking or poorly adjusted. I would also
like to have something reasonable to sell with the clarinet if I decide not
to keep it. How do the dimensions of 19th century eefer mouthpieces compare
to new ones? (Old saxes often play out of tune with new mouthpieces. Is
that a problem with clarinets?) Can anyone recommend an affordable, stock
modern mouthpiece likely to play in tune on an Albert system eefer this old,
or do I have to abuse the piggybank?

TIA--
Lelia
~~~~~~~~~~~
Flea Market Blithering #2:
Resist the temptation to deal with shady characters by remembering that at
least one of them is an undercover cop.
~~~~~~~~~~~

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