Klarinet Archive - Posting 000429.txt from 2002/05

From: jim & joyce <lande@-----.com>
Subj: [kl] Metal Clarinets & undercutting
Date: Thu, 16 May 2002 21:57:27 -0400

I am guessing that undercutting was a factor in the decline
of metal clarinets. Metal flutes replaced wooden flutes and
many makers bet that metal clarinets would supplant wood
ones. Several makers, such as Selmer and Cundy Bettoney,
claimed that you could not tell the difference just
listening. It wouldn't surprise me if this, in fact, was
true at the time. Furthermore, metal clarinets probably
hold their shape better, and likely were a better value for
the average player.

Undercutting must have been known some time in the 1930s. I
have heard that Buescher touted that its metal clarinets had
undercut tone holes. (I have been told that you can
actually see some bevel if you put a dental mirror up the
bore. It may be that Buescher had a production process so
that they could produce nearly identical instruments, all
with the same bevels. However, undercutting for wood horns
involved a highly skilled technician adjusting the horn note
by note. No two horns will be the same. The tools would be
ruined if used on a metal clarinet. Undercutting is not the
only means of fine tuning an instrument. I am guessing that
the top clarinet players of the 1930s were able to get
instruments that once fine tuned, were better than the best
metal clarinets. For them, it made sense to stick with wood
clarinets. Most professional instruments, however, are
purchased by advanced students, amateurs, and
semi-professional players. For them, it might have made
better sense to buy a metal clarinet, but many likely
emulated the top players of the day. The fact that student
metal clarinets were abundent probably didn't help the
image, either. Manufacturers are not masochists. Several
quit producing top eschelon metal clarinets by 1935.

So, while 95%+ of the metal clarinets on eBay were student
quality instruments when they were made, some metal
clarinets were good horns. The top brands are well worth
restoring and are plenty good for amateurs like me.

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