Klarinet Archive - Posting 000599.txt from 2004/11

From: George Lin <george_s_lin@-----.com>
Subj: Re: [kl] An Eb quandry
Date: Sun, 21 Nov 2004 00:07:54 -0500

Curtis,

Here is my advice to you.

The bottom line is if you aren't happy with the
instrument, don't keep it.

Also, think about your band and less about "you".
This isn't meant to sound harsh. But, if your
intonation is so much off, you end up being more of a
liability on the Eb than you would on the 5th chair
Bb. Playing in a band involves constant listening to
others, not just yourself.

--- Curtis Bennett <curtis.bennett@-----.com> wrote:

> I need some advice.
>
> I bought an Eb clarinet on eBay a while back (yea,
> some of you are
> groaning already, I can hear it now...) actually,
> this was the _third_
> one I bought, I ended up sending the first two back,
> but that's a long
> story.
>
> This is a wooden, Cabart (Paris). The guy I bought
> it from advertised
> it as being played by a New York studio musician.
> Whether it was or
> not, I have no idea. The thing is, it didn't come
> with a mouthpiece.
> Apparently, the guy liked his mouthpiece so opted to
> keep it. And the
> barrel has a repaired crack in it.
>
> So, I took it to a music store (Luyben's in Kansas
> City) and asked if
> I could use a mouthpiece just to try out the
> instrument. They were
> happy to oblige. I ended up buying a new mouthpiece
> for my Bb, so I
> ended up making it financially worth their while,
> anyway, so it was
> all good. Anyway, the clarinet didn't play very
> well. I'd go over
> the break, and the thing would just vapor lock. No
> sound would come
> out. I figured maybe it just needed a tune up and
> it'd be ok.
>
> But first I needed a mouthpiece, so I got a Walter
> Grabner (from
> suggestions on here, largely), and Walter himself
> recommended a Super
> Revelation BG ligature, which I also got. So, the
> mouthpiece/ligature
> is awesome now. And I had the clarinet worked on.
> The guy told me
> that he just adjusted some keys, and replaced the
> cork where the
> barrel attaches (it was loose), and the d#/Bb flick
> key was "corked
> down" meaning there was an excessive amount of cork
> to where you
> couldn't move the key. Apparently, the previous
> owner had big fingers
> and didn't like it getting in his way. The repair
> guy removed that
> for me as well.
>
> So now it's an improvement, but it's still not in
> good shape. I took
> it to band (I'm in a community band) and it was
> horribly out of tune.
> I had to pull the barrel out almost 2 millimeters to
> get the throat
> notes in tune. And the throat A is way off. In one
> passage, the
> director just told me not to play because it sounded
> like someone was
> playing a wrong note. So, that was frustrating.
> But, beyond that, I
> still can't play it like I can my Bb. I should just
> be able to run
> scales up and down this thing, and it's like pulling
> teeth. The
> responsiveness just isn't there, and I can't play a
> high D without it
> squeeking after about a second. Are there different
> fingerings for Eb
> than there are for Bb? I tried playing a Bb-C trill
> using the two
> side flick keys and they do absolutely nothing. So
> that seemed odd to
> me. If my fingers aren't in exactly the right
> position, when I move
> over the break, I get nothing at all. So, I'm just
> kind of aggravated
> with this horn.
>
> My first thought was to try to get a new barrel. Eb
> clarinet barrels
> are hard to find, and expensive, but I thought it
> might dramatically
> improve some of the intonation problems, and might
> improve the sound
> (it sounds airy). The repair guy said he could do a
> complete overhaul
> for $250, but at the time he and I agreed it didn't
> seem worth it
> since his minor repairs seem to have done the job
> (of course, this
> conversation was over the phone, and I didn't have
> the clarinet in my
> hand to argue with him). Although, I am curious if
> he was able to get
> all those notes out, and I can't - am *I* the
> problem? I admit that
> I'm not Eb expert, but the first one I bought (a
> cheap Chinese one I
> sent back - I *could* play, very easily in fact), so
> I'm fairly
> certain it's not me. I admit it takes some getting
> used to the size,
> but I can work on that. And a barrel isn't going to
> solve all the
> problems, anyway.
>
> So, my question is, what should I do? I admit this
> might be a hard
> thing to answer if you can't actually pick up the
> horn to examine it.
> My thought was to try to get a barrel, because even
> if I end up
> ditching the horn at some point, a Walter Graber
> mouthpiece/Pyne
> barrel (or whatever I go with) is a great
> combination that I could
> simply transfer to a new instrument. So, if that
> works, great, if
> not, I'll just keep the barrel/mp and use them on a
> new horn. My
> other option was to send it back to the repairman
> and say "I don't
> want this back until every note is in tune, and I
> don't get vapor lock
> trying to cross the break". That could easily run
> me $300. I already
> spent $300 on the clarinet, so I'm not sure how much
> more I want to
> invest in it, so there is obviously some risk
> involved. Also, if I
> get a new barrel, and not even sure which size to
> get. I think I
> measured this one out to 40 millimeters (using a
> cheap tape measure I
> have attached to my keychain, and did the conversion
> to metric
> manually), but if I have to pull it out almost two
> millimeters to get
> it in tune, should I go with a longer barrel?
>
> I bought this thing as a novelty. Basically, I'm
> 5th chair out of
> like 20 in a community band. I just started in it,
> since I just moved
> to a new town, but I decided that I'd like to play
> it if for no other
> reason so that I can actually hear myself play, and
> maybe get some
> solos or something. Lord knows that ain't happening
> anytime soon on
> the Bb, so this was a nice alternative for me. I
> just didn't want to
> sink a small fortune into the thing to be able to do
> that. I'd hate
> to sell it, since I'm not sure I'd want to shaft
> someone else with it,
> and I wouldn't want to suggest to the guy I bought
> it from that he
> take it back. I bought it in August, and I've since
> moved, so I doubt
> he'd take it back at this point anyway. I'm not
> sure I would if I
> were him.
>
> Ok, well that was long, so thanks for reading this
> far! :)
>
>
>
> --
> Curtis Bennett
>
>
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