Klarinet Archive - Posting 000469.txt from 2003/10

From: "John Hansken" <hanskenj@-----.net>
Subj: Re: [kl] "Grade" frustrations, et al.
Date: Thu, 16 Oct 2003 18:02:26 -0400

>From what I know of intermediate horns... if your serious... don't buy one.
Yeah, they may sound the same and function the same but the quality is what
really is lacking. The wood for an intermediate horn does not get the same
treatment as a professional model. I've heard others even say that the wood
is "young". My experience with this "young" wood is that it is extremely
susceptible to weather. The wood expands and then dries much more than a
professional model, which can lead to problems like tenons not fitting or
even the clarinet developing cracks or checks fairly easily. Now how one
cares for the horn is related to how long it will be before some tragic even
occurs to the clarinet.

John
----- Original Message -----
From: "Ken Wolman" <kwolman@-----.com>
Subject: [kl] "Grade" frustrations, et al.

> A seemingly innocuous question: what is the difference between (or
> among) a student, intermediate, and professional horn? I really have no
> idea. I DO know that what I own now--a so-called intermediate
> instrument--is not only more difficult to play than the pro horn I used
> to own, but it also has some nasty and potentially expensive quirks that
> make me wonder if it's even worthwhile to get it fixed.
>
> The instrument is, of course, a Noblet 40. I don't know how old it is
> because the serial numbers are not available and Leblanc is too
> discourteous to reply and say so. Now, recall that this is the same
> instrument that late last winter had the barrel stuck to the tenon. I
> was told to keep it regularly greased. I did so and have continued to
> do so.
>
> I received a new barrel yesterday: an Accubore Standard C-series
> (ostensibly for Leblanc instruments), 66 mm, Bb clarinet. The barrel
> had to be forced onto the tenon. Uh-oh. The barrel had to be gotten
> off with one of those round rubber jar openers. Even recorkgreasing the
> beast didn't help. Uh-oh again.
>
> I called the dealer who sold me the barrel, Weiner Music. The
> technician, Mark, told me that I really should have ordered a
> Buffet-style barrel. I go almost incoherent: Buffet doesn't make
> Noblets, why would I have done that? Then he told me to send him the
> whole instrument so he could fit the barrel to the clarinet. I have two
> barrels, the original wood one too. "Well, wood swells in changes of
> weather." That much? So is he going to file down the tenon and recork
> it? That is not free work: yet I was told it won't cost me more than
> about $25, the cost of postage and insurance. So I get to live without
> a clarinet for however long this takes--I must be unique in that I own
> only one.
>
> I case you haven't noticed, yet this is plainly infuriating. I am
> sending Mark the clarinet, barrel, and purchase paperwork. I'll either
> get my horn back and working or I'll get a refund. I'm sorry, but my
> trust level today is sort of low: behind all this I smell Total Overhaul
> for probably as much--$275--as I paid on eBay for this benighted
> instrument. If that's the case they can keep it and sell it to someone
> else who got burned my Musiqueweb.
>
> I want an instrument that WORKS. Is that a remarkable request? I used
> to have one that worked, a professional instrument, and changes of
> temperature didn't lock the barrel to the joint. I don't want to rehash
> why I had to sell it but I did, and this "intermediate" horn makes a
> cruddy substitute.
>
> Are they all like this? Did I get a dog or are Noblet 40s like this or
> are intermediates like this, regardless of brand? If I were to buy a
> Buffet E11 or even E13, would I be inviting someone to turn me into a
> piece of wood so I could really get screwed? Can you buy ANYTHING on
> eBay (except for what I've sold:-) where you aren't guaranteed a
> hose-job? Can you tell I'm as fed up as I've ever been with any musical
> instrument I've ever seen?
>
> Ken
> --
> Kenneth Wolman
> Proposal Development Department
> Room SW334
> Sarnoff Corporation
> 609-734-2538
>
>
>
> ---------------------------------------------------------------------
> Klarinet is a service of Woodwind.Org, Inc. http://www.woodwind.org
>

---------------------------------------------------------------------
Klarinet is a service of Woodwind.Org, Inc. http://www.woodwind.org