Klarinet Archive - Posting 000381.txt from 2001/05
From: Richard Bush <rbushidioglot@-----.com>
Subj: Re: [kl] Re: [againl] Materials (was Buffet clarinets)
Date: Mon, 14 May 2001 12:28:48 -0400
I feel that, if all things were equal, wood is probably better than plastic.
The question is (or questions are): how can one actually make such a
determination? The only possible test presently available is to compare
Buffet's Green Line R-13s to wooden R-13s. They hold their own. Some added
benefits of the Green Line instruments are that they will probably remain
dimensionally stable for more decades than any wooden instrument and best of
all, the Green Line model will not crack.
The problem with trying to compare other, lighter density plastic clarinets to
wooden instruments is that the plastic instruments (mostly student level
clarinets) have lower tolerances in all acoustical areas, and less time is
spent on the set-up, padding and regulation. Where makers to lavish similar
attention on plastic bodied clarinets, I believe the differences would be quite
subtle.
I don't think a lot of players realize just how important a professional set-up
is or can be. The quality of the mouthpiece is the single most important part
of it all, and most student instruments are judged as a complete package, lousy
mouthpiece included.
I would like to see a maker do their ever loving best on a plastic instrument
so that all of us could decide once and for all just how much difference there
really might be. It probably won't be in my life time, if ever. I doubt this
will happen until high quality wood runs so low that Buffet, Selmer, Leblanc
and Yamaha must raise the prices of their premium instruments beyond a point of
marketability.
"Buckman, Nancy" wrote:
> 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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