Klarinet Archive - Posting 000606.txt from 2004/01

From: "Keith" <100012.1302@-----.com>
Subj: Re: [kl] $1200 for your clarinet....
Date: Mon, 19 Jan 2004 04:49:00 -0500

I agree it would be foolish for a beginner to buy on ebay. But those who =
say
"I'd never buy without trying it", and sometimes implying those who do =
are
dumb, may be missing a point. All you need to be sure of to avoid losing
money is that you can get most of your money back by reselling on ebay =
if
you don't like the horn. If you are sensible about your maximum bid, do =
your
research on prices for big name items, do allow for an overhaul, then =
you
will likely still end up ahead even if you do this two or three times to =
get
a great horn.

I bought my current Leblanc Concertos on ebay, in two separate auctions. =
The
A was a brand new horn with a slight second in the fitting of a tenon =
ring.
The Bb was two years old, and questions of the seller revealed that it =
had
been picked by her music student son, who was then told to buy a Buffet =
when
he went to music college. $1500 each. Both played excellently. I later =
had
them overhauled by Stephen Fox, including Valentino pads, suede buffers,
stripping the nickel and silver plating, and adjusting the shape of a =
couple
of the keys to better suit my hand. (He's stopped doing overhauls now, =
so
don't ask!). They are now fantastic horns, which some pro players have =
said
are the best Leblancs they have played. They do have one serious defect. =
I
cannot blame the horns for my problems!

I also bought a contrabass for $2500, to have fun with it. I did some
overhauling myself, and put a Fobes mouthpiece on it. I played it for a =
bit,
then decided that I didn't have any ensembles that I would really play =
it
in, so sold it again, for $2500. I lost about $100 overall, but that was
worth it to find out about the contra.

I had one problem; an alto clarinet that turned out to have a bad crack. =
The
seller alleged that the crack did not go through, but it did. I would =
have
had a case against him on ebay, but I decided to keep it to learn how to
repair cracks. I plan to try out the carbon fiber method, discussed here
recently.

Granted that different "identical" new models of one make of horn can =
feel
and sound very different in the store, which is why people insist on =
trying
them out. However, my experience is that the real difference between
"identical" models is in fact the finishing, tuning, regulation etc. =
Unless
there is a really fundamental problem with the wood or plastic, I have =
yet
to find a clarinet, even a new one - unless custom built such as Fox's -
that was not greatly improved after a good overhaul and tuning, even if =
I do
it myself. So the real judgement to make is not "how does this clarinet
sound and feel" but "how will this clarinet sound and feel after an =
expert
has overhauled it"?

Then there are the vintage and antiques. I haven't bought a boxwood
instrument on ebay yet, but I might, and it is one of the best sources
around for such.

Caveat emptor, do your research and there are good buys to be had on =
ebay.

Keith Bowen

>=20
> Date: Mon, 19 Jan 2004 13:28:47 +1000
> To: klarinet@-----.org
> From: "Mitch ..." <fusheyumang@-----.com>
> Subject: Re: [kl] $1200 for your clarinet....
> Message-ID: <BAY13-F46gaQzySPCFU00089c8c@-----.com>
>=20
> I'd like to make the point that ebay also has the value of=20
> having a lot of=20
> vintage musical items. Try finding somewhere that has so many kaspar=20
> mouthpieces at once. In places like australia (where i am),=20
> it is impossible=20
> to find any decent instruments and ebay solves this problem.=20
> Whilst america=20
> often has fantastic music stores to get instruments etc.=20
> from, in most other=20
> countries, ebay is one of the best music stores around.
>=20
> Mitch

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

   
     Copyright © Woodwind.Org, Inc. All Rights Reserved    Privacy Policy    Contact charette@woodwind.org