Klarinet Archive - Posting 000387.txt from 2009/02

From: THOMAS P <Tski1128@-----.com>
Subj: Re: [kl] Clarinet Setup - Long
Date: Fri, 20 Feb 2009 17:16:25 -0500

Tom, I'm a little curious where is it you play these clarinets? I know
one guy that has had two of the clarinets you've mentioned and he
could play the crap out of them. I've played "mass produced" clarinet
my whole life and I have to tell you something. It's as true today
as it was 40 years ago on my first lessons. If I can't play something
it has nothing to do with whether or not my clarinet has "hand blued"
springs or custom made keys. It has do do with the fact that I'm a
competent musician or not. My suspicion is that most people who have
out of the ordinary "special" hand built super custom uber clarinets
don't make the money to buy them playing clarinet.

Tom Puwalski- Who has played Michelle Zuckovsky's Wurlitzer and would
use it on a Bar Mitzvah!
On Feb 20, 2009, at 3:54 PM, <Tom.Henson@-----.com> wrote:

> Clarni Bass,
>
> I guess you missed my previous post on this, so to answer the question
> below, yes.
>
> Everything about the keywork is made by hand. They take blanks which
> are
> simply straight pieces of German silver and then fashion, bend, shape,
> file, grind, solder and then test fit everything by hand on the
> clarinet
> before they ever send them out to be plated. They are then hand fit
> again for a final time when they do the final assembly of the
> clarinet.
>
> The screws are cut to length from stainless rod stock, hand threaded
> and
> then the slot cut into the end. The screws not only fit perfectly the
> length of the tubing, but are hand lapped until the screw creates that
> hydroscopic action with the inner wall of the tubing, There is
> absolutely no end or side play in the screw and the key moves as if on
> ball bearings.
>
> The springs are then cut from various gauges of spring wire, hand
> fitted
> and hand blued in order to create the balanced key action. They do not
> use blued needle springs as they are too brittle and stiff in their
> opinion.
>
> Yes, it is very expensive and more so than mass made keys. However,
> have
> you considered that mass produced keys may not fit my hand or someone
> else's? This would be like buying a suit off of a rack in a department
> store. You may get a very good fit, have a tailor work on it to make
> some adjustments, but it is still a suit off the rack. While the suit
> off the rack may fit fine 95% of the people who would buy it, what
> about
> the other 5%?
>
> You say there is no advantage to making them by hand. This is simply
> your opinion which you are entitled to have.
>
> While some firms that hand make keys have done this for a very long
> time
> and it could be said that it is a tradition, it is not a dead
> tradition
> in the sense that it has no purpose. My contact with these companies
> showed me that they are very aware of the modern advances in clarinet
> making, but simply choose to make them the way they do for a reason. I
> have tried to give you and everything else what those reasons are.
> Someone may think this is silly, but others may not. Understanding why
> they do this at least helps a person to make their own decision if it
> has any value "to them".
>
> Leitner & Kraus actually uses machine made parts for the rings and
> then
> solders them up and finishes them by hand. They told me they do this
> to
> save money so they can offer their clarinets for less money than
> Wurlitzer. It does produce a high quality keywork, but they are not as
> strong as that made by Wurlitzer in my first hand experience since I
> own
> clarinets from both firms. It also took me sending my Leitner & Kraus
> clarinets back several times for keywork adjustments to make them
> better
> fit my own hands. Even then, the keywork is still not up to the same
> level as that of Wurlitzer in my experience. Is it good enough for 98%
> of those playing on it, yes. But I am not in the 98% group.
>
> Since I don't want to assume this, have you ever seen clarinet keys
> being completely made by hand or had a clarinet maker fit them to your
> hand? If so, have you asked them why they do this?
>
> Have you ever had a chance to play on a clarinet for an extended
> period
> of time that had hand made keys and fully make a subjective
> comparison,
> say to a Buffet clarinet?
>
> If not, then what are you basing your opinions on?
>
> Tom Henson
>
>
>>> That is why they make all of the keywork by hand.
>>> Nothing is mass produced.
>
> What does this mean anyway? Do they carve and bend the keys with hand
> held tools? Today there is really no advantage to making everything by
> hand, although I won't be surprised if it has a mystique that works on
> some people. There is no reason a key that is mostly machine made,
> with
> an accurate final fitting, should be less accurate than a totally hand
> made key. However there is a good chance it will be less expensive and
> easier to make this way.
>
>
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