Klarinet Archive - Posting 000456.txt from 2003/02

From: "Raycraft" <raycraft@-----.com>
Subj: [kl] cracks
Date: Sun, 16 Feb 2003 11:52:36 -0500

> * I have owned dozens of Buffet clarinets since 1964. I've never had one
> crack. (one Selmer bass cracked...but repaired easily) My clarinets work
> hard...everyday. My clarinets are exposed to some of the worst conditions
> out there....
> Forest Aten

Now that we are on the subject of CRACKS......when I first
began playing the clarinet again about five years ago, my
husband bought me a used plastic Bundy for Christmas (his reasoning
was that he did not want to make a BIG purchase until he was
sure I was really going to stick with it).....Within a couple of weeks,
I knew I needed a better one. The salesman at the music store
(who is NOT my repair guy) recommended an intermediate model
Jupiter, which my husband bought me for the following Christmas. If I
had been involved in this, I would have said, "let's spend that same
$600 and find a good USED one instead", but this was supposed to
be a surprise, so I was unaware of it until the sale was finished,
and then of course I felt like I should keep it, because it was a gift.

So. I did keep it, since it WAS an improvement over the Bundy.
Within a couple of months, it cracked. I had ben very careful to
never play it cold, etc,etc....the company was good enough to replace
the top section, since it happened so soon after we bought it.
About a year down the road, THAT piece cracked, right through two
tone holes. I had that repaired, and it didn't get any worse.

Okay. After playing on the Jupter for three years, I decided I needed
a Buffet, and was looking for fifties or early sisxties R13. My repair
guy came across a 1936 model, and said it was pretty close to an R13,
just a few minor differences, so I bought it from him. It had not been
played for YEARS, but he gave it a complete overhaul, oiled it REAL
good, and when I asked if I should break it in slowly like a new horn,
he said it was probably so well cured by now that there would not be
a problem....
Well, guess what? It cracked within 10 days after I started on it.
What am I doing wrong here?
He repaired the crack (three pins). Then a new, smaller one developed.
That one has two pins in it, and it doesn't seem to be getting worse.
The first, larger crack, which does not go through any tone holes,
looked like it was trying really hard to open up, so we added another
pin (this crack has FOUR pins in it now)....
I'm pretty bummed. This is an older Buffet which has been around
to a very long time. So why does it crack when I get my hands on it?
Sue

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