Klarinet Archive - Posting 000410.txt from 2005/01

From: orm1ondtoby@-----.net (Ormondtoby Montoya)
Subj: Re: [kl] NEW $75
Date: Tue, 25 Jan 2005 11:34:43 -0500

Rob, your subject line is "New $75". Those instruments are absolute
junk. They have been discussed on Klarinet so many times that most of
us are weary of talking about them.

The most obvious problem with "new $75" instruments is that the keys
bend and the pads aren't aligned properly in order to seal firmly
against the tone holes. But they have many other problems, such as the
location and diameter of their tone holes and ragged machining and the
interior shape of their bore, and so forth.

It really is true that most repair shops won't work on them. We see
this all the time: a grade school child or a sad parent is standing at
the repair counter while the technician or clerk behind the counter
delivers the bad news: "Sorry, we won't work on these. Nobody else in
town will either."

So let's talk about buying a real clarinet (rather than a "clarinet
shaped object", which says it all in a nut shell) for less than the $500
or so that any reputable mail order house will sell you a NEW and
properly-built clarinet by one of the established manufacturers.

You are hoping to find on eBay an excellent instrument which does not
need repair and which is offered by a non-musician who doesn't know the
instrument's true value. This does happen occasionally, but the odds
against you being the person who finds it are huge. Perhaps 100:1
against you.

Under any normal circumstance, a playable used clarinet is going to cost
you at least $250-$300 when all is said and done. Some people enjoy
buying a 'fixer-upper' for $35 and then paying to fix it up. A few
folks here have the knowledge and tools to do the fixing themselves.
Other people would rather go to a store that sells instruments to
schools, and pay $250-$300 for a used student-level instrument that
already has been returned to playing condition by a competent
technician.

Without seeing and playing them ourselves, we cannot judge the two
instruments that you have in your hands now. But you've already spent
the $75 + shipping. So perhaps it makes sense to work with one of them
rather than start out fresh.

=== However ===

I am going to repeat my advice to 'ask around' for the name of a teacher
or experienced clarinetist or repair person (who works on clarinets
rather than sending them out) for an independent opinion on what you
should do with the instruments that you already have.

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