Klarinet Archive - Posting 000645.txt from 2002/01

From: GrabnerWG@-----.com
Subj: Re: [kl] Gap in tenon socket between upper and lower joint
Date: Wed, 23 Jan 2002 20:21:45 -0500

Ron Monsen says:
<<Walter--you may want to investigate the gap present between the bottom of the mouthpiece and the top of the socket. Peter Hancock makes quite a point of..................>>

Indeed, Ron. This a an area where a gap can make some really huge differences.

I remember about five years back, I had a shop shorten one of my barrels, because it seemed like I was flat in every ensemble I played in. The barrel came back shorter, but the intonation was suspect, and the tone wasn't the same. It was "duller".

I finally figured out what the problem was. Obviously, when you shorten a barrel, the corresponding tenon socket must be deepened as well. (This is almost always done at the top of the barrel, I believe).

Well, when they deepened the tenon socket, they went too deep. The mouthpiece tenon could never reach bottom. A measureable gap was left, which created the above problem.

Now, of course, I make my own barrels, so I can have the exact fit that I want. But thanks for the pointer!

Walter Grabner
www.clarinetxpress.com

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