Klarinet Archive - Posting 000048.txt from 2001/10

From: "Tony Wakefield" <tony-wakefield@-----.net>
Subj: Re: [kl] Eaton International Bb Clarinet
Date: Thu, 4 Oct 2001 14:30:05 -0400

Tom,

Could you not get Peter Eaton to sell and ship you a set of pads? If the
process of fitting one is not too complicated you are home and dry, I would
say.
T.W.

----- Original Message -----
From: <Tom.Henson@-----.com>
Subject: [kl] Eaton International Bb Clarinet

> Hello everyone,
>
> I spoke to Linda Brannen yesterday about the Eaton Bb clarinet that I had
> sent them to inspect to see if they would be able to work on it.
>
> Unfortunately, the answer is no. She had nothing but praise for this
> clarinet and felt it was very finely built. She loved the way Peter Eaton
> has designed a different mechanism for the right hand F# and E to work
> together rather than using a traditional crows feet arrangement. Something
> that tends to go out of adjustment often she said. Also, because of the
> different mechanism, the Eaton clarinet does not require any notching of
the
> wood like those that use the crows feet.
>
> She appreciated me sending the instrument to them so that they could get a
> first hand look at it. They had heard good things about it, but had never
> seen one up close. She and Bill both looked at it and played it. The
reason
> that she was unable to work on it is mainly due to the pad cup sizes being
> somewhat larger than the standard Buffet, Leblanc, and Selmer that they
> mostly work on. She did say that they could cork the top joint, but did
not
> recommend that since they would not be able to do anything with the
bottom.
> If you are not familiar with the Brannen's, they make their own skin pads
> and the dies that they use to cut the felt were too small to accommodate
the
> Eaton pad cups.
>
> She was also impressed that the Eaton clarinet comes with the end grain of
> the wood sealed from moisture in all the tenons and sockets. This is the
> area where moisture will collect in the small air space between the tenon
> and socket bottom. Most clarinets have a very small space between the two
> when assembled and this over time can cause problems if the owner neglects
> to dry this before putting the clarinet in the case. She especially does
not
> recommend a case where the bell has to be left on the lower joint for this
> very reason, unless you are very careful to always dry it before you put
it
> back together. She has actually seen clarinets with rotten tenons on the
> lower joint because of this. I would feel that it was more neglect on the
> owners part that would allow this.
>
> She also mentioned that Peter Eaton as even gone to such lengths as to
seal
> the surface of the tone holes in order to get a better seal with the
leather
> pads. She said that the extra sealing reminded her of the Wurlitzer
> clarinets that the CSO are now using. The Wurlitzer factory told the
owners
> to send the clarinet back to the factory in about a year and a half to
have
> all the end grain resealed and the tone holes treated. They claim that it
is
> very rare for one of their instruments to crack due to this extra effort
of
> their part. Peter Eaton also says the same thing.
>
> Linda also said the wood on the Eaton clarinet was excellent. She
speculated
> that they may have an older supply of wood that they were able to source
and
> as such the wood appears well aged and of excellent quality. She also said
> the key work was of very high quality considering that they make all of
> their own keys, using the old soldering jigs from Boosey and Hawks. This
she
> said is where many of the independent clarinet manufacturers are lacking.
> She said most of the independently made clarinets that she has seen (she
> would not name names) were only 2/3 to 3/4 "finished" in her opinion and
> that the Eaton was one of the rare ones that was absolutely "finished" and
> very well done. She also like the tone.
>
> Well, having said all of that, I am still in need of having the Eaton
> adjusted. I have was appears to be a small air leak, nothing major, but
> since Linda did not want to work on it she recommended that I contact
Peter
> Eaton to see what he recommended. I sent him an email and he responded
that
> he has no affiliation with any repairers in the U.S. He also said on the
> occasion where an instrument needed his personal attention, he simply had
> them ship it back to him in England and he would work on it himself. I
can't
> say as I blame him. He also told me that he takes great pains to make sure
> that no clarinet leaves his shop unless he feels it is perfect (do people
> actually still do this?) and that perhaps the change in climate has caused
> the air leak. He said it probably only needed a pad to be reseated which
is
> a couple of minutes job.
>
> Can anyone on this list that has an Eaton, or knows of someone that has
one
> let me know if there is anyone they work with in the U.S. to do minor
fixes
> on these clarinets? I live in Houston, Texas and do not know any repairers
> here locally. I'm sure there are some, I just don't know who I could
trust.
>
> Thanks for any and all input,
>
> Tom Henson

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