Author: David Spiegelthal ★2017
Date: 2003-12-02 15:00
I had an enjoyable few hours this weekend playing a 2-year-old Amati 692S bass clarinet (w/range to low-C) graciously loaned by Graham Golden of Graham's Music in Albuquerque, New Mexico. I can't believe this instrument was made by the same company that was selling godawful Third-World trash disguised as musical instruments just a decade-and-a-half ago! The modern version is a fine instrument which is 95% of the way towards being a truly excellent bass clarinet. Permit me to elaborate.......
Overall, I found this Amati to be a nicely-made instrument with quality wood, with a nice smooth and polished bore (even on the very long lower joint) --- commendable! The keywork is 'old-style', rather thin and bendable like just about every bass clarinet prior to the very latest Selmer and Buffet horns, but not too bad as long as one is very careful, especially when assembling the two body joints. I won't comment on the 'fit-and-finish' of the corks and such, as this particular instrument has been well used and travelled over the past two years (sort of a 'travelling demo' model), some of the key corks are torn or have fallen off altogether and the tenon corks all need replacement, but that has nothing to do with the instrument and it's not relevant to this discussion. The silver plating looks nice, and overall I think it's a well-made and well-designed instrument, except for a couple of things (the last 5% that Amati needs to do):
A) The 'small sound' that some folks have ascribed to the Amati bass clarinet is present to a degree BUT I believe it is NOT a function of the relatively small bore (listed as .903", compared to .920" for the Selmer and Yamaha, ? for the Buffet 1193, .935" for my Kohlert, and .945" for the Leblancs); instead it's (IMHO) the result of two things:
1) None of the toneholes are undercut, as far as I could tell from removing a couple of 'randomly-chosen' keys;
2) The key heights are generally much too low, especially for the larger pads at the bottom. I took the liberty (sorry Graham!) of trimming a few key corks to slightly raise the opening heights of some of the lowest pads, and it made an immediate improvement. More of this is needed, and Graham has told me that the latest 692 basses he is selling have this and some other improvements made, including the tonehole undercutting (by him, not the the factory, unfortunately).
B) The linkage to the lowest (bell) key is just plain wrong --- with the bell at a normal angle relative to the neck, thumbrest and strap hook, the lateral lever which operates the bell key just barely engages the key along the linkage (way too close to the pivot and way too far from the end of the lever) ---- thus there is much too short a 'lever arm' and the bell key opens insufficiently. Conversely, with the bell key positioned near the end of the lever where it should be, the bell is pointing about 45-degrees to the right --- an odd design screwup.
Gripes aside, the instrument is remarkably free-blowing in all registers, has an excellent clarion register response and intonation (among the best I've ever played), has a fine throat Bb, and has good intonation all around except for some sharpness in the throat tones (easily correctable, and better than flatness on those notes), and three of the very lowest notes are quite flat (the lowest C#, D, and Eb) ---- the lowest C is right on, as are just about all the notes (except the aforementioned throat tones) above the low chalumeau Eb. Not bad at all! Tone-wise, it could be bigger and my guess is that the aforementioned tonehole undercutting and key height raising will enlarge and darken the sound to an acceptable level. I'd say the Amati 692 is worth a try, especially for the price (around $3500 US) and with the "aftermarket" improvements Graham is making to his horns.
Dave Spiegelthal
Calverton, VA
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The Clarinet BBoard
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