Klarinet Archive - Posting 000105.txt from 2010/01

From: Wayne Thompson <wthompson7274@-----.net>
Subj: Re: [kl] Low C Bass Clarinets at the NAMM show
Date: Mon, 18 Jan 2010 22:24:48 -0500

Gary, for the record, on Thursday the Selmer was misadjusted.=A0 Both regis=
ter vents were at least partially open when the register key was pressed an=
d therefore=A0the lower clarion was stuffy.=A0 So anyone not liking the hor=
n on that 1st day had a good reason.=A0 The rep said he knew about the prob=
lem and that after the show closed that evening they'd have a look at it.=
=A0 I assume it was fixed promptly.=0AW=0A=0A=0A=0A----- Original Message -=
---=0AFrom: Gary Van Cott <gary@-----.org; N=
ewBassClarinetGroup@-----.com=0ASent: Sun, January 17, 2010 4:39:58 P=
M=0ASubject: [kl] Low C Bass Clarinets at the NAMM show=0A=0AI tried all 5 =
of the low C bass clarinets I found at the NAMM show.=A0 Two=0Aof these wer=
e the Buffet wood and greenline models.=A0 The greenline was=0Anot nearly a=
s good as the wood one. Buffet should fix this instrument or=0Abring a bett=
er one to the show.=0A=0AI finally had a chance to try the Selmer. I liked =
it the best.=A0 While I=0Adon't think the mechanism for the extended notes =
is as good as the=0ABuffet I thought the sound was a little better, especia=
lly in the lower=0Aclarion. I friend of mine had complained that she didn't=
like the Selmer=0Aas well as the Buffet because she has small hands.=A0 I =
also have small=0Ahands but didn't find this to be a problem (but I didn't =
play it for=0Avery long either)=A0 I also liked the fact the that mouthpiec=
e sits=0Aslightly lower than the Buffet.=A0 There were two other guy there =
who were=0Atrying out the low C instruments and at least one of them likes =
the=0ABuffet better (he said he owned one) and said he had problems with th=
is=0ASelmer instrument (I had none)..=0A=0AI also tried 2 Chinese low C bas=
s clarinets.=A0 One of them had the keys=0Afor the extended notes arranged =
in a triangle pattern (two above and one=0Acentered below) and appeared to =
be exactly the same design as the=0Ainstrument I tried at Kessler's a year =
ago. It played about the same=0Awhich is reasonably well. This was the only=
instrument I tried a tuner=0Aon, and the intonation seemed to be worse tha=
n the Kessler instrument,=0Aalthough I probably did not play it long enough=
to get it warmed up.=0AThis was in a booth that was a joint venture betwee=
n companies from=0AVenezuela and China.=A0 I spent all my time talking to t=
he guy from=0AVenezuela who spoke excellent English. They said the retail p=
rice for=0Athis instrument was $3200 which seems very high to me.=0A=0AThe =
other Chinese instrument had a different arrangement of the keys for=0Athe =
low notes. The keys were vertical rectangles with two on the left=0Aand one=
that was twice as long on the right.=A0 This instrument was=0Astuffy. I wa=
lked the Chinese lady who was in the booth down to see both=0Athe Buffet an=
d Selmer instruments.=A0 The wholesale price for this=0Ainstrument was abou=
t $675.=0A=0AI tried to encourage both of the Chinese groups to spend some =
time=0Astudying the Buffet and Selmer instruments and to consider hiring a=
=0Aclarinet designer to help them.=0A=0AGary=0A-- =0A+---------------------=
------------------------------------------------=0A|=A0 Gary Van Cott - Van=
Cott Information Services, Inc.=0A|=A0 Woodwind and Brass: Books, Music, C=
Ds and More=0A|=A0 http://www.vcisinc.com/=A0 --> VISA MasterCard Discover =
AmExp <--=0A|=A0 P.O. Box 9569, Las Vegas, NV 89191, USA=0A|=A0 Phone: 702-=
438-2102 Fax: 801-650-1719=A0 Email: Gary@-----.com=0A|=A0 Become a VCIS =
Inc Facebook fan: http://tinyurl.com/vcisinc-facebook=0A+------------------=
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