Klarinet Archive - Posting 000402.txt from 2005/01

From: Bill Hausmann <bhausmann1@-----.net>
Subj: Re: [kl] NEW $75
Date: Tue, 25 Jan 2005 08:30:12 -0500

At 03:13 AM 1/25/2005 -0500, you wrote:
>My daughter got to play with the old new toys.
>The lowest notes played fine but the higher notes squeeked terrible
>and some made air..no reed vibration at all.
>She said her plastic clarinet played much better.
>Ok... not a surprise here..... ya get what ya pay for....and $36 doesn't
>pay for much.
>The local music store here reported that he sends away clarinets and
>repadding costs $150. So we will not be doing that anytime soon.

It is almost certain that the instruments are out of adjustment, at the
least, or in need of pads and corks. They will not play worth a damn
unless repaired, and will be a constant source of frustration for you. You
will learn little more than bad habits to compensate for the equipment
shortcomings unless you get them fixed. You may consider getting them BOTH
fixed, decide which one you like, and sell the other to cover the
costs. $150 is not a bad price for a repad.

>So back to ebay.....
>Ebay commonly sells new clarinets for $75 to $100.
>Some sellers do $50 then $25 shipping....so it adds up to $75.
>
>Is there anything wrong with these $75 clarinets ?

There is very little RIGHT with them. The make nice lamp bases,
though. The keys are made of metal so soft that it curls on a warm
day. If you manage to find a repairman who will work on one, you and he
will be seeing a LOT of each other!

>And what about the yellow, purple, red and white clarinets?
>Are they all made of the same type of plastic and the bright color
>clarinets are really no different than a black clarinets?

Leblanc made the Vito "Dazzler" line of brightly-colored clarinets which
were of the same quality as their black ones, which was very good. They
have now quit making them, although the company (now owned by Conn-Selmer)
still has a few red and yellow ones left as of the other day. The Chinese
ones on eBay are complete crap, just like their conventionally-hued
oriental brethren.

>I was wondering about the plastic being different because certain plastics
>have different traits and I didn't know if all clarinet plastics are equal
>in sound properties.

Clarinets are made of a number of different materials, and the differences
between even such diverse materials as plastic, hard rubber, wood, and
metal are not readily apparent to untrained ears. The sonic differences
between types of plastic are pretty much irrelevant. It is not so much the
body material as how the instrument is made that counts.

Bill Hausmann

If you have to mic a saxophone, the rest of the band is TOO LOUD!

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