Klarinet Archive - Posting 000013.txt from 2002/08
From: CBA <clarinet10001@-----.com>
Subj: Re: [kl] Crack personal experience?
Date: Thu, 1 Aug 2002 04:41:46 -0400
Hi Robyn,
I might be unorthodox in my proposal, but here goes.
You have a one year crack warranty with Buffet. USE IT! Play the
tar out of the instrument from the beginning. My thought is that
if it cracks one year and one day from the purchase, you might
as well kick yourself, when you could have gotten that joint
replaced in warranty if you had found out the wood was unstable
sooner. If it is going to crack it will, and it would be much
better to get the joint replaced when it cracks because it was
in warranty than if it is over a year, and not in warranty,
meaning you will have to pay to get it repaired or pay for a new
joint. Neither one is very cheap, and the repair might leave you
with a scarred instrument that will lose 1/2 of it's resale
value if you go to sell it later.
Some of you are getting ready to say "STOP! Don't tell someone
NOT to break the instrument in, when they might have the perfect
instrument that they spent weeks picking out!" I have a theory
that is specific to this situation. Robyn, you said the new
clarinet just arrived a week ago. Did you (or a good friend or
teacher) pick the clarinet out, or did you get it by mailorder,
and have someone you don't know pick it out? If the latter is
true, then you have no particular sentimental attachment to the
instrument at this point. I am *NOT* saying you cannot get a
great instrument through mailorder. I got my first Bb clarinet
that way, and it is one of the best clarinets I have ever played
on. Chances are, this particular instrument is a good instrument
and you like it, but it is NOT one that you spent the time
picking *IT* out of a bunch of other clarinets. If the
instrument cracks and you get a new joint to replace it in
warranty, you would be better off than if you tried to baby the
instrument for a long time, and have to possibility of it
cracking later.
If you picked out THAT clarinet, and it was the best one you
ever played, (and others said similar things to cross reference
the greatness of this instrument,) I would actually say the same
thing about playing it from the beginning to make sure if it
cracks it is in warranty. Some would argue with me on that
point. I don't think this is the case with your instrument, so
it doesn't matte for your situation.
I have 7 clarinets, an oboe, and an english horn, and have yet
to have a crack in any one of them. Except for the first
clarinet, I have hand picked each of my instruments over weeks
and months of trials before I found the one that I wanted. I
have had my first clarinet (the one I DIDN'T choose myself) on
the marching field in college in the pouring rain, in the
Summer's 100+ degree sun, and in the below freezing Winter. I
have left my first clarinet in the trunk of my car in the heat
and cold, and have taken it from highly humid locations to very
dry ones, and not had a problem. This is NOT to say instruments
do not crack. What I am saying is that I have been very lucky,
but also to say that I have taken the instruments to extremes
when I first got them, as far as the weather and humidity
conditions, in order to see if it WOULD crack while in warranty.
After about a year, I breathed a sigh of relief, as most
instruments crack in the first year if they are going to, and
mine hadn't.
I think the break in process is a bunch of crap, and only
manages to prolong something that WILL happen eventually if the
instrument has unstable wood, and will most likely do so AFTER
the warranty is up, if you baby the instrument. PLEASE do not do
the things I did to my first clarinet with yours. (Only use a
stunt clarinet, or plastiphone type claritooter to march with in
the sun, snow, and rain.) DO, however, play it A LOT and get
used to it.
The worst thing that can happen is that the instrument cracks
and the cracked joint will be replaced *in warranty.* If it
survives the warranty period without a crack, you have a great
piece of wood there that will probably be good for years to
come.
I am awaiting the flames from all of the break-in procedure
nazis on the list...
Kelly Abraham
Woodwinds - New York City
--- Robyn Brown <rjbrown@-----.edu> wrote:
> Hi all,
>
> Having just purchased a brand new Buffet, the thing that is
> obviously on my
> mind is a fear of having my instrument crack, especially
> because I am in
> dry Eastern Washington. I've played an ancient Buffet for
> many years and
> have never had to worry about cracking because the wood was so
> old and
> stable. I've gotten some information on crack prevention from
> the
> archives, but I would like to know what your personal
> experiences
> are. I've heard varied and conflicting reports, so I'm
> curious to know
> what processes of breaking in and maintenance actually work.
> So, here are
> my questions:
> 1. Has anyone carefully broken in a clarinet (15 minutes a
> day for a week
> then gradually adding a little a day) and still had it crack?
> Or has
> anyone jumped right in and used the clarinet a lot and never
> had it crack?
> 2. What else have you done to your clarinet that either
> helped prevent
> cracking or caused a crack?
> I realize that a clarinet that is inclined to crack will
> probably crack no
> matter what you do, but I'd like to do my best to avoid it.
> My clarinet
> arrived a week ago (it's wonderful) and so far I've been
> playing it every
> other day for 30-45 minutes. Please tell me your stories!
> Feel free to
> contact me on or off list (rjbrown@-----. Thanks in
> advance for your help!
>
> Robyn
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