Klarinet Archive - Posting 000615.txt from 2003/03

From: "Lelia Loban" <lelialoban@-----.net>
Subj: [kl] Modifying the intonation of a clarinet
Date: Sat, 15 Mar 2003 14:40:42 -0500

Walter Grabner wrote,
>It's a buyer beware market out there on old, old clarinets.
>
>In my career as a "restorer" I have seen many clarinets
>where the parts don't match up. In other words, someone
>has taken a barrel from clarinet "A", an upper joint from
>clarinet "B" and lower joint from clarinet "C".
>
>I've even had someone send me a clarinet where the top joint
>was from a Bb clarinet and the lower joint from a C. You
>can imagine what that scale was like.

Walter, you were more alert than I was--and I should have thought of a
mismatch, too, because the *majority* of wooden clarinets I see at flea
markets are marriages. I overlooked Peter Jacques' second message, where
he elaborated,
>>I just checked & the serial number (only appears on the lower joint) is...

It's normal for the serial number to appear only once or twice, but does
every piece have a Buffet logo? I just checked my 1898 Buffet (Paris) Eb
clarinet. It's marked with the Buffet logo on *all* of the pieces, and
that's still standard with modern Buffets. I believe that Buffet has
always marked every piece. (On both of my Buffets from the 1930s, tone and
intonation sound best if I line up the logos on the bell and barrel with
the logos on the sections.) If the markings are there but faint because
they've lost all their pigment, you still should be able to find them with
a magnifying glass, because they're engraved into the wood. Sometimes
they'll polish out pretty far over the years, but a trace should still be
there, on the front of each piece. Make sure that the logos are all the
same size and that they match in other ways.

Also take a good look at the shapes of the keys. See any differences in
the contours of the metal on the upper and lower joints, especially where
the circular part of the key joins to the rod? The key contours changed
slightly over the decades. Differences indicate that a clarinet is a
"marriage," even if all the parts are from Buffets.

Lelia Loban
lelialoban@-----.net
New address!

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