Klarinet Archive - Posting 000511.txt from 2003/10

From: CBA <clarinet10001@-----.com>
Subj: Re: [kl] "Grade" frustrations, et al.
Date: Sun, 19 Oct 2003 03:17:29 -0400

Ken,

Aren't you still in New Jersey?

Why would you mail your clarinet to Weiner Music when they are
in Mineola, NY (Long Island)? Just go there. There are also at
least 5 other places in the area I would have sent you to
besides Weiner music if you wanted a clarinet barrel, but that's
another story.

As far as the Noblet, I think you could get an overhaul by
Tomoji (from the old Woodwind and Brasswind store in NYC) who
now has his own repair service on 28th Street. I don't have the
number offhand, but could get it for you when I get home in the
morning, if you want it. He could make the instrument play
better in tune, PLUS sand down the tenon slightly for you. I
always assume if there is an instrument I am buying sight
unseen, that I will have to put $ into it to get it in working
order...regardless of what the eBay add says. Some people lie,
and some people are just unknowledgeable, so I would only buy a
instrument on there at a price that would allow me to put
$250-$500 in overhaul/repairs into. $275 for the Noblet 40 isn't
bad, considering a new Noblet 40 is around $700-800, depending
on where you get it. $275 plus $300 for repairs/overhaul (being
devil's advocate for $) is still only $575, which is a steal,
considering the new Noblet 40, with it's lack of personal
attention, considering it isn't a pro instrument. Your Noblet 40
after a good overhaul will play head and shoulders past a new
Noblet 40 without the human touch, AND you saved $.

I don't use anything but wood barrels, since I like the response
better, and they can be customized for the clarinet, instead of
the other way around. I personally would return the Accubore
barrel and not get my clarinet altered to fit the barrel. Find a
barrel while you are in the shop that fits your clarinet, not
the other way around. You wouldn't alter your car if it had 15"
wheels to take 21" wheels, would you? Why not try one of Clark
Fobes' barrels (from this list,) or Chadash's Barrels on it? You
could try them out in the store. Or if you wanted custom barrel
stuff, try Walter Grabner or Morrie Backun (both on this list
also.) After all, the Accubore logo isn't going to match the
Noblet logo either... Oh, and I would NEVER force parts together
on a clarinet.

Here are barrel pages, for more info...

http://www.clarkwfobes.com/Barrels.html
http://www.chadashclarinet.com/barrel.htm
http://www.clarinetxpress.com/#Barrels
http://www.backunmusical.com/clarinet_barrels.htm

If you need more info, drop me a line...I'm just in the next
state. (I'm the short guy who you had lunch with in Manhattan 4
or 5 years ago after we chatted on this list.) Would be glad to
help.

Kelly Abraham
Clarinet and Saxophone - New York City
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
--- Ken Wolman <kwolman@-----.com> wrote:
> 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
>

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