 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: Clarence1
Date: 2012-11-01 22:04
I sent in my new Buffet to get adjusted and tuned by Marc Jacobi in Philly. He has an amazing reputation, but I just paid 560 dollars to feel no difference whatsoever. I'm not sure what to do right now. He told me exactly what he did, and it was quite believable.
Is it because I am not used to wooden clarinets? Before this I had an intermediate hard rubber Yamaha, and before I even sent it out I only had the Buffet for about a month and was breaking it in slowly.
Post Edited (2012-11-02 20:19)
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Author: kev182
Date: 2012-11-01 22:15
Was there any particular issue with the clarinet before you sent it in? It's possible that you just need to get use to it. I remember when I upgraded from a 40 year old metal clarinet to a new Buffet wooden RC model, I thought the metal sounded better... I had to adjust to the new instrument before I could really appreciate what it was capable of.
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Author: Clarence1
Date: 2012-11-01 22:24
No there wasn't necessarily anything wrong with it. I just had a harder time playing it than I did with my old one, which I assume is expected. There is also a lot of squeaking now, but maybe that is my fault as opposed to possible leakage.
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Author: Chris P
Date: 2012-11-01 22:43
What exactly did he do for $560?
Former oboe finisher
Howarth of London
1998 - 2010
The opinions I express are my own.
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Author: kdk
Date: 2012-11-01 22:58
How did you think the clarinet played before you sent it to him? If there were specific issues you were hoping to have improved and they're no better after the overhaul, you should contact Marc and let him know specifically what doesn't seem right. I know Marc Jacobi's work. He is meticulous. You should have a clarinet now that doesn't leak, has well-regulated springs and key action and tunes decently.
Often with a new clarinet, a good tech will correct anything obvious - regulate the action and key/pad heights, replace any suspect pads (or in some cases all of them), check for damaged tone holes and repair them - and then ask the player to play the instrument for a few weeks to let things settle. After that period of time, some readjustment is often necessary and it's then that he/she will begin to think about correcting stuffy or out-of-tune individual notes. Most wood instruments - strings as well as woodwinds - change in subtle ways as they are played. Most become less resistant and more resonant. It's usually better not to do too much adjusting until these changes have had a chance to take place.
Marc must have given you some kind of instructions about how to proceed with the clarinet. A month of gentle "breaking in" won't really be enough to bring out whatever changes will occur. After the more cautious "break-in" is over, the clarinet needs to have been played normally for a period of weeks. Did Marc suggest contacting him again after a period of time about any changes that have occurred?
Unfortunately, this readjustment is the kind of work that is really better done with the player and the tech in the same room. Unlike an older, more stable used clarinet, a brand new one is a dynamic work in progress that really requires a lot of communication between the player and the repairman. If you have Marc do further work on it, it would be really good if you could arrange a trip - maybe incorporate it into a family vacation and see some of what the Philadelphia area has to offer.
Karl
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Author: bethmhil
Date: 2012-11-02 02:46
Unfortunately, this same kind of thing happened to me. I sent my A clarinet in to my trusted repair tech for a complete repad. It was leaking rather badly and was unbearably resistant.
Now, it's not leaking almost at all, but it still has this strange resistance. My tone is really pretty and dark on it, but it's still not very comfortable to play on.
BMH
Illinois State University, BME and BM Performance
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Author: BartHx
Date: 2012-11-02 02:57
Assuming that there are no leaks and the instrument has been regulated, squeaking would tend to indicate something related to the mouthpiece or reed. The mouthpiece might not be the best match between you and that instrument or the instrument might be more sensitive to a reed that is not exactly in balance. There are lots of references on adjusting reeds. I find quite a few good reeds straight out of the box, but very few that cannot be improved some with some careful adjustment.
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Author: Tony F
Date: 2012-11-02 06:45
I can't comment on the problem you're experiencing with your clarinet, but I will say that to name the repairer on this forum, where he has no right of reply, disturbs me.
I don't know what your level of experience is, but judging purely from the nature of your letter it is probably not very extensive. Did you take it to him with a specific problem that you wanted fixed, or was it just a request to check it out because you were dissatisfied with what you were getting out of it?
If it was a specific problem, did he fix it? If he didn't fix it to your satisfaction then surely the correct and decent thing to do would have been to contact him and get the matter resolved rather than broadcast his name on a public forum, complaining about the quality of his work and casting doubts on his integrity.
If there was no specific problem that needed fixing, then perhaps the fact that the instrument sounds and feels the same as it did before you took it to him might indicate that the problem lies elsewhere. As has been said, assuming that there are no leaks and the instrument is in good order, squeaking is normally associated with the reed, mouthpiece or embouchure, or a combination of these.
I note that you say your Buffet was new. Why did you not take up this matter with Buffet? Surely on a new instrument this is a matter to be dealt with under warranty.
Tony F.
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Author: DavidBlumberg
Date: 2012-11-02 10:05
Price wise - Check this out:
I had my new pair of Buffet Prestiges set up by Mark back in 1988. The cost was $500 per Clarinet.
Made a huge difference.
Under $100 price increase in almost 25 years!!
I'd suggest to take your Clarinet to a good teacher, or send it back to Mark to recheck that nothing shifted. But a teacher would be also a good thing to have.
He is way too good to disparage here by name.
http://www.SkypeClarinetLessons.com
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Author: Garth Libre
Date: 2012-11-02 10:06
I had the same issue with clarinets I've played. At first they seem resistant, but as I get used to them, my later evaluation tells me they weren't resistant at all, but that I was the problem. I can't explain this except to say that when I relax, any instrument become a little easier to play. Some horns are more resistant than others and some notes are more resistant than others too, but tension in the body is a big source of resistance.
Garth, 305-981-4705. garthlibre@yahoo.com
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Author: srattle
Date: 2012-11-02 15:25
Please, if you aren't sure about it, don't write names of people you are dissatisfied with!
If you had an incredibly horrible experience, like being cheated, then maybe, but unless you are really sure, please don't try to hurt someone's business publicly!
That being said, it sounds like you don't know this instrument well enough to be able to make a fair judgement about it.
When I first switched from a plastic yamaha to a wooden r13, I remember feel the clarinet resistant and in many ways harder to play. That's not necessarily a bad thing, as you will need to change your play style to accommodate the new possibilities of the instrument.
Maybe if you would be so kind as to write why you sent it in for repair (only a month after buying), what the repair tech told you he had done, and what you still find uncomfortable about the instrument, we would have more of a basis to give you some advice.
My experience is that minor leaks aren't the major reason for squeaks, but more embouchure and finger position problems (possibly also troubles with mouthpiece and reed)
The best advice I could give you, with the knowledge you've given, is to bring the instrument to your teacher, or if you don't have a teacher, get a teacher and bring the instrument to him/her, and ask about this stuff.
And, please please please don't write peoples names like this, it can really hurt their business! A public stage like this is not the place to deface someone professionally.
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Author: brycon
Date: 2012-11-02 15:54
Perhaps your current abilities do not allow for discernment between an overhauled and a non-overhauled instrument?
If so, I would avoid posting names...
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Author: DavidBlumberg
Date: 2012-11-02 16:40
Btw - there is no hard rubber semi pro Yamaha that I'm aware of.
So it most likely is a plastic beginner Yamaha.
Get it checked for a leak, and improve your playing. A good wooden clarinet shouldn't be any more difficult, but of you aren't highly skilled, throwing $$$ at it won't help much.
http://www.SkypeClarinetLessons.com
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Author: Chris P
Date: 2012-11-02 17:33
All wooden clarinets are different from one another, even the same make and model. So maybe your R13 isn't a particularly good example and no amount of work undertaken by the top people in the business will make it play any better. They may improve it in some areas by a certain amount, but fundamentally it'll still be the same bad instrument.
Did you have a choice of instruments and this seemed the best one at the time to you out of a large and varied selection, or was this the only R13 on offer to you?
Former oboe finisher
Howarth of London
1998 - 2010
The opinions I express are my own.
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Author: Clarence1
Date: 2012-11-02 20:29
I would like to kindly point out that I am not blaming Marc Jacobi! He is a wonderful, well respected, highly regarded, and trustworthy main. My mentioning him was not to badmouth him, but to merely prove a point in that there MUST be something wrong with me or my mouthpiece/reeds. I am really just asking what I can do, or what I can expect once I break in my clarinet further.
I really do not think that Mark did anything wrong, but I'm fearful that I am doing something wrong. It kind of scares me that I can't tell a difference. Does it say something about my intuition? Or my musical abilities?
Maybe so, but either way it does not say anything badly about Mr. Jacobi's work.
He's too famous to really be harmed from a simple (obviously an amateur's because I can't even tell what's wrong with my own instrument/me) bulletin post anyway.
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Author: Chris P
Date: 2012-11-02 20:41
How many R13s did you try out before settling on the one you bought?
Former oboe finisher
Howarth of London
1998 - 2010
The opinions I express are my own.
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