Klarinet Archive - Posting 000064.txt from 2004/02

From: Tom.Henson@-----.com
Subj: [kl] Walter Grabner
Date: Fri, 6 Feb 2004 14:54:47 -0500

I wanted to take the time to let everyone on the list know what a great
repair technician that Walter Grabner is.

For those of your that are not familiar with Walter, he is a sponsor of this
list, is also a list member and frequent contributor, and a practicing
clarinetist.

http://www.clarinetxpress.com/ <http://www.clarinetxpress.com/>

Who better to repair a clarinet than someone that is a practicing
clarinetist, and also up to date on the current trends?

Walter did a complete overhaul on my 1962 Buffet Eb R13 and a 1974 Bb R13.
The work that he did on both of these clarinets was excellent. Walter is the
type of person that sweats the details and is not in a hurry to get it out
the door so he can send you the bill.

Due to the age of both of these clarinets, it took someone of his skill
level to really restore their mechanical and cosmetic condition. Things like
a chipped tenon on the Bb and loose posts were expertly repaired. The tenon
chip was repaired so well that I had totally forgot it was there when I got
it back. You could not even see where he had repaired it, and it was a
rather large chip. I didn't think this would be possible, but Walter found a
way. He also spent a great deal of time on the setup of the key work and
adjusting the spring tension. This really helped make playing them easier.
His knowledge, care (skill), and attention to detail have done wonders to
both of these clarinets.

In addition, he made me a mouthpiece for each one, specifically customized
for that particular setup. This really helped even out the intonation. The
mouthpieces are on Zinner blanks and have the wonderful sound. What better
time to get a custom mouthpiece made than when he is also working on the
clarinet and can fine tune it by hand.

He also custom made the most incredible cocobolo barrel for the Bb to go
with his mouthpiece. When I compared this setup with the mouthpiece and
barrel that I had used before, it was no comparison. He was able to correct
flat throat tones, and even out the 12ths. The response of the barrel is
also very good, making large interval jumps very easy. This also improved
the altissimo, making it easier to play in that range, and in tune.

I just wanted to remind the list that we have a very good resource right
here in the United States that is multi-talented at repair, barrels, and
mouthpieces. I know that there are a lot of people out there that do repair,
many of them very good. There are however, very few that can do all three,
and do them well indeed.

PS: I am not getting any freebies or discounts for saying this, I just
really believe that he deserves my recommendation, of which I don't hesitate
to give.

Tom Henson

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