 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: Phat Cat
Date: 2004-10-22 21:29
A certain well-known on-line auction has another transparent Buffet B12 listing and the price is already ridiculous. I'll even bet some of you are bidding. Some questions arise.
(1) Do you think the Big Four are missing a specialty market of folks who'd pay a premium for a funky-looking clarinet that was actually half decent? I must confess that I’d shell out for a clarinet of the quality of a Forte that was clear, or red, or...no, he can't be serious...swirled! It would be worth it just for the shock value of seeing the looks of distaste on the faces of all the stick-in-the-mud traditionalists (none on this board).
(2) Do you think a transparent clarinet would give me a transparent tone?
(3) Would the copper plated keys cheapen the sound?
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Author: sfalexi
Date: 2004-10-22 21:52
(1) Vito has those colored clarinets. As far as I remember the discussions being, they weren't half bad. Also, Vandoren has had those 'two tone' clarinet mouthpeices (along the same lines). Or how about those crystal mouthpieces? Or the flavored reeds? There are some wacky products out there already, but you're right about there not being too many transparent clarinets still being produced (if ANY still are . . .)
(2) Maybe . . . . but I HAVE heard reports of disgusting saliva trails being in there . . .
(3) DEFINITELY!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ![[wink]](http://test.woodwind.org/clarinet/BBoard/smileys/smilie3.gif)
Alexi
US Army Japan Band
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Author: msloss
Date: 2004-10-22 23:11
No, I don't think that is a market missed. A sparkly pink clarinet might seem like a good idea at the moment, but that is an expensive decision to make for the next several years. Kids are fickle as well as mean. What was cute one year might be the source of derision the next. Plus, who the (fill in your choice of expletive) would buy one of those used. It is like used cars with red interiors -- a resale no-no.
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Author: L. Omar Henderson
Date: 2004-10-23 02:44
Well I do not think it ridiculous at all for boys to have toys. This is a person who was outbid on a similar specimen at $500. + a while ago. Useful, no! A conversation and advertising attraction - Yes. Since I am up to my eyeballs in hock for my current projects it will not be on my agenda now so I have transfered my foolishness to other avenues (antique sterling silver cigarette cases as reed holders for my friends) but have not lost that boyish enthusiasm for something unique and out of the ordinary. There must be others with these traits who are now doing the bidding! It seems as though the resale value remains high from the auction standpoint anyway. Do not get me wrong - there is no redeeming value in owning one of these!
The Doctor
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Author: kal
Date: 2004-10-23 03:38
Yeah, I think the Doc nailed it. The same thing happens whenever one of those Pan-American propeller wood horns shows up. (Half the time they are described as "rosewood"... I wonder if the majority of bidders know better?) I admit, they're kinda cool, but they're definitely not worth what they fetch at auction.
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Author: Gordon (NZ)
Date: 2004-10-23 08:57
4. How gross does it look once it has some calcium/gunge/lint build-up in the bore, or at least in the inaccessible undercutting of the tone holes? Yuck!
I suppose it should really be put in a museum where it will not be played.
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Author: L. Omar Henderson
Date: 2004-10-23 13:15
It is just the game - not the score (although I have been told that the one with the most unusal collection of clarinets when they die wins!) Since we can never all agree on what is the best clarinet anyway that is an unreachable goal. Now leaving a bunch of wildly unusual and potentially worthless clarinets for greedy relatives to ponder selling and feathering their beds is a really enticing goal. Taking out the morbid aspects of the latter it is still just the fun of collecting and unlike collecting salt and pepper shakers these oddities can actually be used at holiday gatherings to grate on the ears of unsavory guests without them really knowing what is going on in your game!
The Doctor
Post Edited (2004-10-23 13:46)
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Author: jArius
Date: 2004-10-24 07:02
There is a shop in San Francisco that sells the Ocarina of Time...
Jeremy Bruins
Proud member of the too-much-time-on-my-hands club.
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Author: Ken Shaw ★2017
Date: 2004-10-24 13:29
Gordon -
Actually, the Metropolitan Museum in NYC has one in its collection. No grunge, and very striking.
I'm not sure it belongs there, next to the top quality stuff (Christofori piano, 2 Strads, Sax saxophones, Boehm's flutes, Kincaid's Powell flute), but the Met has always gone for the odd stuff -- for example, a Heckel bassoon festooned with maybe 15 extra keys, too heavy to hold up.
Best regards.
Ken Shaw
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Author: Alseg
Date: 2004-10-24 13:36
I thought that Kincaid willed his platinum flute to one of his students. Is the museum piece the same one?
As far as toys go....Sterling silver reed case sounds good--and I presume I am to be gifted with one for Festivis--but you have not lived til you have seen my barrels made into wine bottle stoppers.
But I had to change the wood to ++charred oak++ for bourbon bottles and Limoisin(sp?) oak for Chardonnay. (insert usual disclaimer about flagrant ads here). At least the switch will save the world's supply of black wood, since the demand for the stoppers will no doubt outstrip the GNP.
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Author: Don Berger
Date: 2004-10-24 14:39
I pretty much "go" with Doc Omar and Ken's view of the "spectacular" cls. Buy one , display it, then go back to the good blacks for playability. I do recall the glass oboe in one of the "great houses" in England, Rothchild's ??. Thots then-now, does it play?, how well?, followed by gosh sakes, how could it be bored, toneholed, keyed except by truly expert/devoted makers, then the "fragility" question. Of course transp. acrylates, polycarbonates would be easier [perhaps], but quite diff from H R and Gren, etc. Impractical ??? Don
Thanx, Mark, Don
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Author: Don Berger
Date: 2004-10-24 16:18
I agree [to a slight degree], Brenda. I've thot,while drying bores, that most of the "wetness" is moisture [yes, its impure water] from lung/throat/mouth activity, condensed to achieve a thermal-equilibrium [warm to cold] similar to deposits on breath-blown, cooler mirrors, p.e. I took quick looks in Lawson, Brymer and Rendall re: materials of construction, only R goes very far into that subject [others may go farther, Pino, Rice, Baines etc ?]. There are other factors beyond machinability and grain/crystal structure of course, such as density, glass is about twice that of most plastics. I should have mentioned, among the transparents, the butadiene-styrene resin my [old] company makes/sells, K Resin !! I read "Dick's" description, all about appearance, not playing. I bot a Selmer Omega [USA] from them very satisfactorily, a bit slow, perhaps. Don
Thanx, Mark, Don
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Author: donald
Date: 2004-10-25 11:28
in the Met Museum in NYC? it's only a plastic clarinet that happens to be clear.... what's the big deal? if the Doc wants to collect it, ok, if some kid wants to play it in marching band, ok, but what an insignificant and pointless waste of money for a major museum.
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Author: Gordon (NZ)
Date: 2004-10-25 11:52
Donald, do you know why there are tens of thousands of Maori adzes stashed away in NZ museums? I don't.
Post Edited (2004-10-25 11:53)
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Author: donald
Date: 2004-10-25 18:35
Gordon, the answer to your question is.... YES i do know. it would take another ten minutes of my time to answer and it's off topic. Is your question rhetorical? i think it's rather more likely you're trying to wind me up, which isn't really much fun (at least for me)
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Author: Ron Jr.
Date: 2004-10-25 18:54
I was just at the MET last weekend, October 23, 2004, and while they still have Benny Goodman's clarinet, the clear plastic Buffet has been removed from the case.
Ron Jr.
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Author: Todd W.
Date: 2004-10-25 19:12
Ron Jr. wrote:
>, the clear plastic
> Buffet has been removed from the case.
How could you tell?
Post Edited (2004-10-25 19:13)
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Author: kal
Date: 2004-10-25 19:29
^haha!
They have an ivory CJ Sax clarinet is absolutely gorgeous. Was it out last week, Ron?
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Author: Ken Shaw ★2017
Date: 2004-10-25 19:40
The Kincaid Powell is unique because it has the World's Fair logo engraved on the upper joint. (It was made in the year of the Fair.) I'm told that Ransom Wilson has it most of the time, though it was there the last time I was at the instrument collection about a year ago.
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Author: allencole
Date: 2004-10-26 06:01
In "Beyond Silence" I saw Giora Feidman playing what I'm told is a glass clarinet. I'm not sure I understand why, but what the heck.
The colored items seem like they were probably aimed at over-financed marching bands. Too bad we didn't have them for those old movies featuring the Goodman and Shaw bands.
Allen Cole
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Author: Brenda Siewert
Date: 2004-10-26 14:41
So is Feidman playing a plastic or glass clarinet? It looks very much like the aforementioned plastic on the unmentioned auction site.
By the way--if anyone hasn't heard Giora Feidman play, it is a must. He is awesome and absolutely the king of Klezmer.
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Author: Phat Cat
Date: 2004-10-26 14:42
Ken:
The photo in the last link looks exactly like the Buffet up for auction. Could it be a Transparent B12? I don't see him listed on the Buffet Artists page.
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Author: Ron Jr.
Date: 2004-10-26 15:41
Todd W.
Luckily my tricorder indicated a displacement of air molicules and a lingering resonite residue. Otherwise I would not be sure that the transparent clarinet was gone.
Ron Jr.
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Author: madvax
Date: 2004-10-28 18:00
I own two of these clarinets and find them unique, interesting, and beautiful to look at. It's also interesting to observe the undercutting of the tone holes and appreciate the craftsmanship on the "inside" of the clarinet bore.
When people view my clarinet collection, they usually find the clear Buffet, by far, more interesting than the boxwoods, rosewoods, or metals.
When you consider how rare these instruments are, at $560.00 the price was a bargain! What I fail to understand is why someone would make fun of this.
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Author: sfalexi
Date: 2004-10-28 18:04
Madvax,
I guess it all depends on who you are and what you're looking for in it. As far as playability goes, maybe it wasn't worth 560. As far as uniqueness, maybe you can justify it.
As for myself, I'm keeping my eye out for a vintage "Rubix Snake", with the black/white pattern. I can buy a new one for 10 dollars with purple and green, but would pay more for a black/white for nostalgia purposes. Call me crazy if you want . . .
Alexi
US Army Japan Band
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Author: Phat Cat
Date: 2004-10-28 19:17
Personally, I love the look of the instrument and would like to have one. I just think the price is out of line for the quality of the instrument. I've even asked The Doctor what it would take to produce a clear Forte, for which I'd gladly pay $500.
As a collectible, a transparent Buffet B12 is worth whatever someone else is willing to pay, so any price is a bargain as long as you get it.
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