Klarinet Archive - Posting 000412.txt from 2002/10

From: George Kidder <gkidder@-----.org>
Subj: [kl] Old Kohlert low-C bass
Date: Tue, 15 Oct 2002 10:51:14 -0400

Dear list,

I am asking for any information and/or opinions about the following older
instrument.

I have recently borrowed an old Kohlert bass clarinet which was lying
around in a friend's house. He hasn't played it for maybe 20 years, and
said it's intonation was very sharp. On examination, the upper joint is
marked:

V. Kohlert Sons
Makers
Graslitz
Czecho-Slovikia

Bb
LP
20891

And the bell repeats the "V. Kohlert
Sons" and "Czechoslovikia" with a lot of fancy decoration.

The instrument is wood, probably blackwood with red streaks, and has the
low C on the bell. It has a double register key system, with the top vent
on the neck, and the crossover occurring between clarion D# and E (when the
3rd finger RH is lifted.) The lower register key vents the throat Bb, with
the upper key closed by a lever from the A key. There is no "little hole"
in the E/B key to act as a register key for the altissimo, and I don't know
how to get those notes except by overblowing. It has 4 thumb keys, with
the low Eb also a thumb key and not the 5th RH pinkey key.

The keywork is German silver, and seems to be intact and sturdy. As one
might guess, many of the pads and corks are shot; two pads were missing,
and another dropped out when I jarred it. It clearly needs a complete
reworking, including tightening almost all of the rods - some of them have
a mm or more of slop to them. It must have been played a LOT to get this
much wear on the pivot sockets. It has a pinned crack at the top of the
upper joint - the repair seems to have been successful and stable.

Most problematical is the mouthpiece tenon diameter, which is larger than
present standard. The mouthpiece which was in the case (a Selmer) was
close to a fit, and recorking the MP would probably make it fit. But the
present standard MP tenon is too small to fit, and I had to use wraps of
tape to get it to stay in place. So I replaced the missing pads, used
Saran wrap on some other leakers, and got the beast to speak, although not
really well.

Intonation is indeed a problem. With my mouthpiece (with tape wrap) pulled
out nearly half a cm, the instrument is in tune through the chalameau, with
the extended notes on the bottom going somewhat flat. Or maybe my tuner is
not working well down beneath the floor like that. The lower part of the
clarion is OK, although stuffy. The upper clarion goes progressively
sharp, reaching 30 cents on high C. One cannot pull at the lower end of
the neck because of the register key linkage. The Selmer mouthpiece did
the same things.

Is anyone familiar with instruments like this? If it came from
"Czecho-Slovikia" it must date from after the establishment of that
entity, which would be around 1915 or so, I believe. (And before the
dis-establishment of that entity, but the instrument is clearly not that
new!) Is it possible to get a mouthpiece with a bigger internal volume,
and would that help the intonation problem? And finally, given the amount
of work necessary to refurbish it, will we have a playable instrument in
the end?

Any thoughts appreciated.

George Kidder
Bar Harbor, ME

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