 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: donald
Date: 2003-08-24 21:13
i purchased the Vandoren reed resurfacer/adjuster wand kit at Clarinetfest 2003, and found myself very satisfied with this new tool- especially the adjuster wand. For years i have made adjustments using reedual/knife/reed rush, but within a few weeks was convinced that the adjuster wand thingy was the best thing since sliced bread.
UNFORTUNATELY i discovered a great drawback in its design.... it's round and made of glass.
i put it down on a low table, it rolled off onto the floor and hit the leg of a music stand on the way. Despite travelling only a distance of about 40 or 50cm it shattered into at least 6 or 7 small pieces. I distinctly remember the Vandoren demonstrator guy telling us that the resurfacer was shatter proof- he encouraged the person standing in front of me to drop it on the floor. i don't remember the same claim being made for the adjuster wand.
what a pain! however, i will try to replace the wand- it really was a good thing to have around (on the other hand, reed rush will roll off the table with far less spectacular results).
donal
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Author: CPW
Date: 2003-08-24 22:41
Now the reason for this is...there is NO PHOENIX FEATHER in the adjuster wand.
Next time, be more careful and purchase a better wand before running off the a semester at Hogwarts.
Seriously:
OK..I will bite....what IS the adjuster wand???
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Author: Gordon (NZ)
Date: 2003-08-24 23:27
with a name as presumtuous as that, and being made from glass, my guess is that it is something pretty basic that could be readily made form any material.
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Author: CPW
Date: 2003-08-25 00:37
ya mean....."a hamburger by any other name...costs twice as much!!!"
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Author: GBK
Date: 2003-08-25 06:01
"...and being made from glass, my guess is that it is something pretty basic that could be readily made form any material..."
Yes folks...from Vandoren. The same company that brought you the $27 (US) box of "Hand Selected" clarinet reeds... GBK
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Author: Mark Pinner
Date: 2003-08-25 11:24
I think you have been had by the best of them. Back to Rico and sandpaper I guess.
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Author: BobD
Date: 2003-08-25 13:42
Mouthpieces have been known to be damaged accidently too.
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Author: Gordon (NZ)
Date: 2003-08-25 21:55
Come on Donald, tell us more about this glass wand, or was it some dream that you were relating? :-)
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Author: donald
Date: 2003-08-26 03:28
if you search the net and previous postings you will find out all about it, including the fact that it is a very good tool for adjusting reeds (of course, it's only as good as the hand that uses it, eh?). If it hadn't rolled off the table, i'd still be using it instead of my knife/rush combination.
plus it's actually not that expensive- $35us from Muncy... which seems a lot, but if i was to mess around trying to find someone to sand blast a glass pencil to 600/800 grit (after shaping the tip) and make the little sanding plate/resurfacer... it would certainly take more than $30us of my time and money... the glass resurfacing plate is excellent- very portable and endlessly re-usable.
i'm sure that there is a better material than glass that they could make it out of (although, the durability of glass is essential to the concept, as long as you don't BREAK IT) why don't you do it Gordon, redesign the tool you've never seen and then market it all around the world. I'm sure that you can do it cheaper than Vandoren!
honestly, this notice board is such a waste of time- all i wanted to do was amend my previous thumbs up for this product by adding a cautionary tale....
bye bye all
donal
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Author: Gordon (NZ)
Date: 2003-08-26 10:56
I searched Google and this site under [wand vandoren reed] and got nowhere.
I presume it is a an abrasive rod that you use for 'sanding' reeds. How about going to the "House of Knives" in Mt Eden Rd, wheer you will find a rather large slection of such items. None of them are made from glass.
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Author: msroboto
Date: 2003-08-26 13:40
I found it online by looking at the Vandoren site and Google searching by the item number.
The only place that came up was http://www.hickeys.com/pages/clrtool.htm
It seemed kind of pricey to me at $39.95.
I have never done any business with them so this is not an endorsement of this site.
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Author: D Dow
Date: 2003-08-27 14:22
Another easy way to make money adjusting a box of reeds that costs nearly 30 bucks!
David Dow
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Author: Mark P. Jasuta
Date: 2003-08-27 20:07
Why does most everything Vandoren makes, somehow becomes a consumable?
I wonder if they factor loss and breakage into their profit margin?
Mark
Post Edited (2003-08-27 20:09)
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Author: Terry Horlick
Date: 2003-08-30 22:42
http://www.vandoren.com/french/pdf/DOC%20RETABLEUR%20V5.pdf
This link is to VanDoren's site. If it works for you, you will see a photo and read the directions in this acrobat file.
It looks to me that a quick trip to a glass shop will get you the goods for about $2. Then go to any decent auto machine shop and have it blasted in their cabinet... probably another $2. Figure in the time you spent running around at around 30 minutes. So if your time is worth more than about $50 per hour (I added in shipping to get this number) then you should just order a new set. If you are like me and like do-it-yourself projects you will just go do it and make it to fit into your case.
While you are at it have them make up 2 or three of those little pencils. Another idea is while you are at the glass shop ask the worker there to push the pencil against the belt sander. That will put a flat down the length and keep it from rolling.
At each shop if you say you are a high school student and then pull out some wadded up $1 bills and a handful of pennies, nickles, and bus tokens chances are you will walk out of there with the things free. Don't forget to thank the guy!
IMHO, TH
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