 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: Mikey_TN
Date: 2013-10-22 00:43
Just acquired a wood Buescher 400 late 60's clarinet off of ebay. I have a sax of the same vintage and I love the fat sound and I was hoping the clarinet would have a great sound as well. Anyway, I think I'm about to go crazy. This thing is nearly mint/perfect condition, yet I cannot seem to easily play anything in the upper register. The lower register doesn't take much effort and all the notes sound just fine?!?! I'm not sure what exactly is going on. I have a cheapie Vito clarinet, so I swapped mouthpieces for grins, and the Vito blows fine but the Buescher just doesn't want to play in the upper register without 4x the effort so I'm sure it isn't the mouthpiece. All the pads seem good.. tried different reeds and so on. Only the low notes sound good. Any ideas what this might be suffering from? I think that era Bueschers are just the same as a Selmer. Anyone has a clue what may be the problem - before I turn this thing into the "proverbial lamp"?
--Mikey
Post Edited (2013-10-22 00:56)
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Author: Tony F
Date: 2013-10-22 01:40
The Buescher 400's are pretty good once set up properly. You probably have a leak from one of the large pads on the lower joint. leaks around these pads won't affect the lower register much but will kill the upper register just as you describe. Check them with a leak light or with a thin strip of mylar film from a candy wrapper or similar. Check at several points around the pad. Should be an easy fix.
Tony F.
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Author: BartHx
Date: 2013-10-22 03:55
Also, take the register key off and run a pipe cleaner trough the speaker tube. You can get the same effect from a gunked up tube.
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Author: Mikey_TN
Date: 2013-10-22 14:36
Wow.. ok. I had no idea. I'll give the candy wrapper test a try.
Thanks for the suggestion!
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