Klarinet Archive - Posting 000380.txt from 2001/05

From: "Buckman, Nancy" <nebuckman@-----.us>
Subj: RE: [kl] Re: [againl] Materials (was Buffet clarinets)
Date: Mon, 14 May 2001 11:26:31 -0400

Dave,

How right you are! Last summer I purchased an old, beat-up white plastic
Vito bass. It looked like a circus instrument. The keywork was a mess and
it needed a new neck, ligature and mouthpiece. While it is still old and
white it has been cleaned up, modified and re-fitted to my specs and it
plays so well that I am currently NOT entertaining any thoughts of selling
to upgrade. I have spent less than $600 total on it and I swear if you put
me in a room behind a screen, you wouldn't know that I was playing the Great
White Hope instead of a beautiful wood Buffet. Every once in a while it
pays to be cheap.

Nancy

Nancy E. Buckman, Technical Assistant
School of Health Professions, Wellness and Physical Education
Anne Arundel Community College
Arnold, Maryland 21012 USA
Phone 410-541-2316 Fax 410-541-2233
nebuckman@-----.us

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Dave Spiegelthal [SMTP:Spiegelthal.Dave@-----.COM]
> Sent: Monday, May 14, 2001 10:18 AM
> To: klarinet@-----.org
> Subject: [kl] Re: [againl] Materials (was Buffet clarinets)
>
>
>
> My A-number-one bass clarinet which I play almost every day is a
> hard-rubber
> Kohlert. After a number of modifications, it is the best-playing bass
> clarinet
> I have ever tried, period, bar none. Even before I started tinkering with
> it,
> it had a slighly better overall sound than the three otherwise-similar
> wood
> Kohlert basses I've restored and sold over the past year. It isn't pretty
> with
> its olive-green tint and lack of woodgrain, so I don't drool with pride
> when I
> open the case the way I would with a beautiful wood instrument --- but
> when the
> rubber meets the road (pun intended).........I'd rather play it than a
> wood
> instrument. Perhaps, if more players had the opportunity to experience a
> really
> good non-wood clarinet, we wouldn't spend so much effort trying to
> convince
> ourselves (and persuade others) that wood REALLY sounds better inherently
> than
> other materials.
> This topic has been beaten to death ----- it's like religion........some
> people
> will always believe regardless of evidence (or lack thereof), and others
> never
> will.
> David Spiegelthal
> Calverton, VA
>
>
>
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