Klarinet Archive - Posting 001174.txt from 2000/05

From: Ryan Burrage <ryangb@-----.net>
Subj: Re: [kl] Shame on Leblanc!
Date: Fri, 26 May 2000 15:34:17 -0400

I dont think it's just Leblanc!!!!!

Something in the nickel plate manufacturers are using these days is horrible!! I dont know what it is, but i only need to play maybe 45min to an hour and the keys are an ugly brown color. I have seen this on Noblets, Vitos(both Leblancs), Bundys(ies?), Yamahas, Selmers -- all current production models and they react the same way. It surely is a hassle when you wipe the keys down and it doesnt help a bit.

One day I opened the case of one of my clarinets, and the keys were a reddish copperish look to them -- it polished off easily but what a pain. I've noticed green oxidation on the tenon rings on a new clarinet after 2 weeks of use. I dont get it.

Whatever they are using to nickelplate is awful

Ed & Carol Maurey wrote:

> As an experiment I've been buying different clarinets on eBay and giving them a thorough playing, measuring and evaluation. When I'm thru with the instruments I simply sell them on eBay. Harmless fun.
>
> I recently bought a Leblanc Concerto Bb to scruntinize. It had had very little use an was in perfect playing condition. The first thing my machinist's eyes noticed was a misalignment of the posts that hold the right hand B-F# slivver key: ugly, but harmless. The bell had been slathered in some varnishy wood filler glop. I guess good wood is hard to find these days. The nickel plating was wearing off the rings only to reveal bright, red, copper. Nickel plates just fine directly over nickel silver and when it eventually wears off it doesn't look "two-tone." Manufacturing idiocy! These faults were pretty superficial, but did not bode well.
>
> How'd it play? The scale was generally very good. The main twefths were very nice. When it was really wamed up it centered on 440 with my Pyne M. The throat tones, however, were flat. I eventually traced this problem to more sloppy manufacturing: the barrel's socket was half a mm deeper than the top joint's top tenon. This gave a gap unseen to the player. I put in a 1mm tuning ring and the thoat tones were actually sharpened! [Surely, Eddy Daniels horn wasn't like this.]
>
> The altissimo register was flattish and absolutely demanded adding the Eb-Ab key. The high F# was hideously flat... repulsive.
>
> The tone lacked the sweetness of an R13 and, to my ears, was rather undistinguished. I found my R13, in general, more pleasurable to play.
>
> One last bit of poor manufacturing to expose: The minimum bore is advertised as .577"....it was .579" as measured in both top and bottom joints. That wouldn't pass in my shop.
>
> Granted, this is only one sample and, perhaps, the only lemon Concerto ever made. However, I don't think I'll bother looking in eBay for a Concerto A to audition.
>
> Ed Maurey

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