 The Clarinet BBoard
|
Author: A Brady
Date: 2010-03-02 18:51
I stopped by Guy Chadash's shop yesterday to pick up a new 67 mm barrel to use with my recently acquired Kaspar mouthpiece; Guy had an excellent ringless model for me (the same style he puts on his hand-made instruments), which tunes and sounds great with the Kaspar. He also did some adjustments to my R-13 B-Flat (which he had overhauled/replaced the bore of a couple of years earlier). I told him that this was the best money I had ever spent on gear, as the clarinet continues to produce a marvelous, centered and ringing sound after the work, and was very "blown-out" indeed prior to it.
Artisans like Guy are rare indeed in these mass-produced times; a visit to his small shop in NYC can be a very cool experience (I met Burt Hara, in town to play at Carnegie Hall with the Minnesota Orchestra, who was leaving as I arrived), and Guy's clarinets and restoration work are second to none.
I am not a paid endorser, just a very satisfied client.
Alan Brady
AB
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: reddog4063
Date: 2010-03-02 19:26
I wasn't aware that there was a shop in NYC, this is great news. I am probably going to buy a barrel soon, what is protocol for making a visit?
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Tobin
Date: 2010-03-02 19:46
Alan,
Just out of curiosity, how much did the overhaul/re-boring of the clarinet set you back?
Great to hear of great work!
James
Gnothi Seauton
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: A Brady
Date: 2010-03-02 19:53
Tel. 212-239-7187
Fax. 212-239-0572
Email: gchadash@chadashclarinet.com
Definitely contact Guy first; this is not a retail storefront, it's the space he uses to make clarinets. Barrel availability will probably vary, depending on what you are looking for. Chris Hill comes to Guy's shop a few times a year with a new stock of Chadash-Hill mouthpieces, also well worth trying out.
The shop is easy to find, a couple of blocks west of the Port Authority.
AB
AB
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: A Brady
Date: 2010-03-03 16:57
Guy reams out the upper joint, then inserts a special bore of hard rubber, which has been heated, which extends from the top tenon of the upper joint to approximately the side e-flat key. After the insert cools, he uses his special reamers (used to make his hand-made instruments) to ream the new bore to proper specifications, restoring the cone shape. He then redrills a few holes, and finishes everything up.
The results for my instrument were remarkable. The great advantage of this process is that the hard rubber will not change dimension over time, as wood bores can be prone to do, and will not crack. The sound, focus, and ring of this instrument are outstanding, and I receive many compliments from my colleagues for my sound.
AB
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: reddog4063
Date: 2010-03-04 04:16
A Brody,
Have you noticed this has changed the tone in any way? I would assume this would take away some of the benefits of having a wood horn in the first place?
Joe
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Ron
Date: 2010-03-04 11:18
Joe,
Guy did the same job on my very special R13 A clarinet made in 1972 that he did for AB above. That is, he reamed out part of the wood on the upper joint and inserted a hard rubber sleeve and then rebored the joint to exact specifcations for the instrument. Regarding the tone, it is unbelievable. After the repair, I auditioned on the clarinet for an orchestra and won the job playing most of the pieces on my newly repaired clarinet. In fact, when I was done playing for he conductor, he commented on how beautiful my tone was. This should answer your question. Before the repair was done, the clarinet was essentially unplayable with overwhelming resistance.
Ron
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: William
Date: 2010-03-04 14:15
Hmmm, I couldn't help but notice: you allude to your "very special R13 A clarinet", yet comment that before Guy's work, "the clarinet was essentially unplayable with overwhelming resistance." Sounds like an oxymoron statement to me. My question--as I also own a similar 1960's R13 A--if it had overwhelming resistance, why did you consider it so special? Not trying to "attack" you, but I'm just curious........
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: A Brady
Date: 2010-03-04 14:39
The changes to the sound have been remarkable, better projection, focus, and intonation. The rubber sounds marvelous, but I suspect the dimensions of the bore are the main factor here. This top portion of the bore is the critical area in clarinet acoustics, and the results of this procedure bear this out.
In terms of Ron's instrument being very special and yet unplayable, I assume (like my instrument) it was a great player earlier in its life, but the bore had warped/expanded or otherwise changed, creating the problems. This, after all, is the reason for reboring: the restoration of a wonderful instrument to new or better than new condition.
AB
AB
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
The Clarinet Pages
|
 |
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
