 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: Willie
Date: 2000-04-06 04:45
Are old Selmer contra altos any good? I play a LeBlanc straight one now but its not mine. How do they compare? I just found one but I thought I better ask around before I sell the wife and kids.
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Author: J. Butler
Date: 2000-04-06 05:09
Yes, Selmer contras can be good. It depends on the condition of the instrument. (Kind of like buying a used car). If it hasn't been abused it is probably a very good instrument.
J.Butler
P.S.
Try to negotiate the deal so that you can keep the wife and kids. Although Texas isn't an alimony state, the child support can be a killer!
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Author: Willie
Date: 2000-04-06 06:34
I've heard some of the older bass's and contras have problems with the type of register key system they use, and intonation problems. I've learned a lot about fixing and keeping this Leblanc going. It was in pretty sad shape when my Daughter found it in the storage room at the high school. I want my own, but I don't want to get something that may be worse in the way of design or quality.
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Author: Ken Shaw
Date: 2000-04-06 15:07
Willie wrote:
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Are old Selmer contra altos any good? I play a LeBlanc straight one now but its not mine. How do they compare? I just found one but I thought I better ask around before I sell the wife and kids.
Willie -
The old Selmers can be excellent, provided they're in good condition. However, they're very different from the Leblancs - easier to play, but with less depth of tone. For more, see my posting at <A HREF=http://www.sneezy.org/clarinet/BBoard/read.html?id=10380>http://www.sneezy.org/clarinet/BBoard/read.html?id=10380<A>.
Best regards.
Ken Shaw
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Author: Willie
Date: 2000-04-06 16:32
This ones not the Bundy look-a-like, but wood (reddish) with the long bell. By less depth in tone than the LeBlanc, do you mean volume or does it sound like a gassious hippo?
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Author: SeAn
Date: 2000-04-06 17:59
Thanks Ken for the informative posting.
just a question regarding the Vito Contrabass, does it use contrabass/contra-alto mouthpiece? I looking into getting one in the near future.
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Author: Contragirl
Date: 2000-04-06 19:07
Well, When I played Contra my first year in high school, both of the instruments had all their keys torn off or lost. When it was fixed, it was one of the best instruments I've played. I have only played Selmer Resonite Contraltos. It'll probably just need adjustments. Register keys can be adjusted by you or a professional somewhat easily. If not, duct tape always worked for me. :P
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Author: Willie
Date: 2000-04-06 21:32
Is this a new person or the Kontragirl's new alias?
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Author: Willie
Date: 2000-04-06 21:55
I think the Vito uses the larger (than bass) contra MP. The reed size, though, may vary if you're getting a custom MP. Some are sized for a full sized contra reed. They sound a little better (I think) in the lower end, but those reeds DO cost. Some are sized for the smaller bari sax reed. They are easier to find, cost less, and little easier on the lungs, at least on my LeBlanc. I have both and switch, depending on the piece I'm playing. Also, specify what brand contra its for as I've heard some contras have diffferent size tenon/sockets. I was given an almost new Selmer C, but its to small for the LeBlanc.
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Author: Ken Shaw
Date: 2000-04-06 22:01
SeAn wrote:
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Thanks Ken for the informative posting.
just a question regarding the Vito Contrabass, does it use contrabass/contra-alto mouthpiece? I looking into getting one in the near future.
SeAn -
Since Vito is owned by Leblanc, I think they would use the same mouthpiece. I'm frankly not sure whether the Leblanc Eb and BBb use different mouthpieces. My suspicion is that they're the same. I saw a Selmer contrabass mouthpiece (with no identification as Eb or Bb) in a music store recently, and the tenon was too small to fit into my old Leblanc BBb (which was made for the large mouthpiece, before they changed sizes).
By the way, I went to Everett Matson recently. He's 80, but still very active. He told me that for bass clariinet, the Selmer C* is the ideal mouthpiece for him to finish up to play at a professional level. He doesn't keep them in stock, so you have to buy one and send it to him to work on. Presumably the C* contra mouthpiece would also be a good place to start. He lives in central New Jersey and prefers to work interactively, with you there to try out each thing he does, though I'm pretty sure he will also work by mail order.
Best regards.
Ken Shaw
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Author: Kontragirl
Date: 2000-04-06 22:22
It's great to have another contra player! Anyway, I played on a selmer that in really bad repair, (a key fell off when I was playing it and it took an hour to pry apart). Even missing a key, it was still very nice. I still like my bundy the most...I wish I could find a new one if the one I played on worked so nicely.
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Author: Ken Shaw
Date: 2000-04-06 22:29
Willie wrote:
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This ones not the Bundy look-a-like, but wood (reddish) with the long bell. By less depth in tone than the LeBlanc, do you mean volume or does it sound like a gassious hippo?
Willie -
The Selmer Eb contra has a perfectly fine tone, a little thicker than the bass clarinet but quite responsive. The action is light enough that you can play practically anything on it. However, you have to work pretty hard to make it into the equivalent of a tuba, supporting a clarinet choir. To do that, you need what my ears tell me is a "broader" tone, which is easier to get on a Leblanc, particularly the BBb.
The Leblanc Eb (which I have played only a couple of times) has a larger bore and a louder tone, but less flexibility. A poorly played Selmer can sound thin. A poorly played Leblanc can sound wooly. The Leblanc requires more air, and the key action is heavier, making fast passages more difficult. If you get the coiled "paperclip" model with an extension to written low C, the bottom notes tend to become vague in pitch, with more sound of the reed slapping against the mouthpiece than tone.
The Leblanc BBb (the one I own) has a sound that is like the Leblanc Eb, only more so. I would buy a new one only in the straight format (going down to written Eb), since they come only with the "new" small mouthpiece. If you can find an old one with the large mouthpiece, then it makes sense to get it with the extension to low C. However, you have to stand to play the straight BBb model.
The way to tell a large BBb mouthpiece from a small one is that a baritone sax reed fits on the small one and a Vandoren contrabass reed or a bass sax reed fits the large one.
Best regards.
Ken Shaw
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Author: Willie
Date: 2000-04-07 03:14
Thanks Ken. I'm just a little leary about plunking out this much change. I don't want anything worse than what I'm using now. I'd like it to be equal or better. The straight EEb LeBlanc is the only one I've played so knowledge is limited on these contraptions. As for the MP, I have both, the bari reed and contra reed models. I switch, depending on what I'm playing. At rehearsal tonight I used the "biggun" as it was all OMPAH.
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