The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: John O'Janpa
Date: 2004-03-05 14:37
I'm new to bass clarinet (haven't played one yet). I recently bought an old bundy that doesn't have any hardware for a floor peg. Does someone sell the hardware to add on a floor peg? If so who? where? how?
Today I plan on buying reeds for it, to see if it makes any noise.
I'm sure if push comes to shove, I can cobble a floor peg assembly, but I would rather use something commercial if they are available.
What do others do?
John
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Author: David Spiegelthal ★2017
Date: 2004-03-05 14:53
Ferree's Tools can sell you a complete Leblanc bell-mounted floor peg assembly for around $35 --- I've bought quite a few from them. If it's the body-mounted two-bracket type you want, I don't know if they're available any more.
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Author: Ken Shaw ★2017
Date: 2004-03-05 15:08
If the Bundy is a plastic one, I wouldn't drill into the body to mount a screw-on floor peg bracket. Better to get one contoured to the bell and have a metal shop weld it to the bell.
The Buffet design seems to work best. It has a golf-ball-size rubber ball on the bottom, which prevents skidding no matter what the angle to the floor. If you can't get one that fits, I've seen setups where the owner takes off whatever rubber or other stuff is on the end, drills a hole in a SuperBall and uses that. SuperBalls have an incredible high coefficient of friction, so they don't slip on anything. However, they're brittle, so be sure to drill a pilot hole almost as large as the rod that goes into it. And don't bounce the instrument on the floor, no matter how much fun it is. That's a sure way to throw the mechanism out of adjustment.
Best regards.
Ken Shaw
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Author: Don Berger
Date: 2004-03-05 15:20
I heartily agree with Ken's comments/warnings. I found a "clamp" and mounted it on a hard rubber body, fitting a smaller rod/peg to it with rubber "foot" [hardware store things] , not very good, serviceable with care! Would be much better on the bell. Don
Thanx, Mark, Don
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Author: David Spiegelthal ★2017
Date: 2004-03-05 18:05
The downside of bell-mounted pegs is that, as the 'bell-end' tenon cork wears and the bell starts to wobble, so does your entire instrument --- and if you pull the bell out to adjust intonation of the 'long' notes, as we have to do sometimes, the weight of the instrument on the bell (via the peg) will tend to push the bell back up. For those reasons I actually prefer the two-screw, body-mounted design, except as I said before nobody seems to make those anymore (and besides, I hardly ever use a peg anyway, as I prefer a regular old neckstrap). By the way, the bell-mounted peg I mentioned is not welded onto the bell, it's silver-soldered like any other keywork, and this can easily be done at home using silver-bearing (lead-free) plumbing solder, a bit of flux, and a propane torch. No machine shop needed. Welding is for iron and steel, not brass!
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Author: John O'Janpa
Date: 2004-03-06 02:28
Thanks guys!! Just the kind of info I was hoping for. I'll be checking my Ferree's
catalogue.
I bought some reeds and was able to play the lower register. With no neck strap or floor peg, I didn't get much out of the higher registers, but I think it was the mouthpiece moving and my inexperience rather yhan anything wrong with the instrument.
I think I'll get the hang of it once I get it to stay still, and have some time to myself to practice without driving my family crazy.
John
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Author: ron b
Date: 2004-03-06 06:12
For now, John, while you're just foolin' around with it, why not sit on a low footstool and rest the thing on the carpeted floor? Use a folded towel or something (soft) if it's a hard floor. That's what I do.
- rn b -
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Author: Don Berger
Date: 2004-03-06 15:42
Rite, Ron that works, I also will stand up, resting the bell in a chair, have been doing some "individual note tweaking" lately. However, without neck strap and/or peg, its difficult to finger and embouchure-support the BC when playing "few-fingered" notes such as the F/C, even with a thumb - first finger [no-key-touching!] pinch. Be careful of lips! Don
Thanx, Mark, Don
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Author: David Spiegelthal ★2017
Date: 2004-03-08 14:42
John,
The Leblanc floor peg assembly is not listed in Ferree's catalog --- you have to call them and ask for it, they do have a part number (or ought to, as many of them as I've bought!). Generally, they are able to order OEM replacement parts from the Big 4 clarinet manufacturers on request.
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Author: saxlite
Date: 2004-03-08 18:19
Concerning the suggestion to "silver-solder" the clamp to the bell-DON'T use silver-solder! The heat required can cause other nearby objects to come unsoldered! Ordinary soft lead-tin solder worked just fine for me and made a strong joint that has served well. Just make sure to clean the area to be soldered very thoroughly ( fine emery papaer works well) and clamp the two pieces together tightly. Then heat both pieces with your torch till the solder flows between them (capillary action). Make sure to clean off any remaining soldering flux when done. If carefully done, it will be as good as a factory job. Good luck!
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Author: David Spiegelthal ★2017
Date: 2004-03-09 15:02
Saxlite,
My suggestion was NOT to use high-temperature silver solder (which would indeed do bad things to the posts and other objects attached to the bell), but to use lead-free, silver-bearing PLUMBING solder, which is low-temperature stuff (around 415C) and can be easily melted by a propane torch --- will not get hot enough to melt the high-temp silver solder used to attach the bell key posts and the bumper strip on the bottom of the bell.
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Author: Contra
Date: 2004-03-15 08:24
A much easier solution is to find a small metal stand that is normally used by guitarists to rest a foot on. They aren't very expensive and they just fold up. No work required.
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Author: Synonymous Botch
Date: 2004-03-15 13:18
My solution was to use a suitably large tupperware bowl, inverted.
It also carries my lunch for longer sessions.
The guitarist's footstand folds neatly flat, but is a little less stable than
my bowl.
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