 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: Aussie Nick
Date: 2005-07-21 14:30
Hey guys, I am thinking about trying to test a replacement register tube for my A clarinet (rc prestige). Do most technicians have these tubes available or can they be ordered? Has anyone experienced putting a Bb register tube in an A clarinet? I believe the taper of the inside of the Bb tube is different to the A tube? I expect this would nevertheless make the 12ths wider in the upper joint but probably do wonders for the grunt/undertone I get on my clarion A..
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Author: Bob Phillips
Date: 2005-07-21 14:43
I hope that you'll check out the Galper register vent. It's supposed to clear up the sound of the "pinch" Bb. I understand that it is back in production.
Pry the old one out, press the new one in --or so its said.
Bob Phillips
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Author: hartt
Date: 2005-07-21 19:42
down under................
replacing the A tube with a Bb tube has been tried. Lisa , the prior owner of IMS, did it for quite some time as well as shortening the existing tube. Then, in speaking with Tom Fritz, her head clarinet tech and former assistant to Francois, he mentioned IMS discontinued that practice.
Yes, the Bb / A tubes have a different taper and a different length.
Buffet has 2 'styles' of vent tubes. American and French. The difference is in the openings. I don't recall which is which but one has a larger 'intake' diameter than the exit diameter. And, the other tube has a smaller 'intake' diameter than its exit diameter.
Hope this dosen't confuse you, but they do exist.
You may also notice that Buffet changed A vent tube lengths over time. Early A's had a longer tube. The length was changed sometime in the late 60's as my 1971 A came with the shorter tube and my 1959 A was changed to a shorter tube by it's prior owner and my teacher, Russianoff.
now go practice
dennis
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Author: DavidBlumberg
Date: 2005-07-21 21:15
The Galper tube isn't the answer for that. If it was, I'd sell you one as I'm the distributor of it, but you should get an A Tube - the Galper's only for the Bb Clarinet.
Your tech if he's a master can easily make you one. My 1988 Prestige A tube was too short and Mark Jacobi made me one - works really well.
Post Edited (2005-07-21 23:02)
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Author: GBK
Date: 2005-07-21 21:36
Dennis is correct about the different vent tube lengths that Buffet has used over the years for the R13 A clarinet.
To continue the Dennis' story of Buffet A clarinet vent tube lengths:
In the early 1980's (late 70's?) the vent tube of the R13 A was again lengthened. My 1983 R13 A came with a longer vent tube (which I've since had changed) However by 1985 the vent tube on the R13 A clarinet was again shortened, as the vent tube on my 1985 R13 A is definitely shorter than the original one issued on the 1983 R13 A clarinet.
I'm not sure what length Buffet is using today on its A clarinets. ![[wink]](http://test.woodwind.org/clarinet/BBoard/smileys/smilie3.gif)
In the words of one prominent tech: "...In the 1980's it seems as if Buffet used whatever length vent tube they had lying around at the time..."
Changing the vent tube can have a dramatic effect on lessening the undertones (grunting) on the notes G5 through B5. However, there can be a significant trade off in the resulting 12ths and the throat tones. Work carefully with a tech to see if the change is worth making on your particular instrument ...GBK
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Author: donald
Date: 2005-07-21 21:53
somewhere i found the "best measurements" for the A tube on the R13 A(longer than for Bflat, shorter than what came with the instrument) but i believe that the RC tube is a different kettle of fish- it's a conical bore, and already pretty much where it should be in terms of length. I did have one, but put it in an R13 A i sold earlier this year (THAT A clarinet had come with a Bflat tube stuck in that made the left hand 12ths ridiculously sharp, but the tone and response in the upper register fabulous).
While the R13 apparently has different register vent bores (bigger vrs smaller but both cylindrical- the smaller gives better tuning on every note EXCEPT throat Bflat, and a slightly more resistant feel to the upper register) i don't know if this is the case for the RC. Why not email Francois Kloc and ask him?
do other players get a "grunt" on clarion on your clarinet? on their own clarinets? it's true that the register tube can improve this, but there are any number of things (both to do with tone production and the instrument) that can cause it to happen......
donald
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Author: Aussie Nick
Date: 2005-07-22 05:14
So Donald, are you saying the taper (bore) of the RC Prestige vent tube is different to that of the R13? Does this mean that the Festial tube would be different to the RC Prestige tube - because the tube in my instrument is a shortened Festival A tube. I wonder if this could be contributing to the problem. My teacher and I have talked about air and throat position being part of the problem, and then when he played my instrument he commented that he got more undertone than usual.
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Author: donald
Date: 2005-07-22 06:16
i just got back from rehearsal and read my post- some places where my writing was not exactly concise, sorry....
re RC tube- i haven't ever measured the reg vent tube in an RC, but was sold what i was told was an RC A clarinet vent tube (so lets assume it WAS)
..... that vent tube was longer than a Bflat one, shorter than a standard R13 A one and had a conical bore (bigger on the inside of the instrument).
This RC tube worked brilliantly on an old R13 A, closing the 12ths down considerable (though still sharper than on my festival) without making B flat too awful.
My Festival A clarinet has had a special reg vent put in by Guy Chadash, and the 12ths are brilliantly in tune, but the B flat sounds awful.... which i thought was strange given his comments on this topic in The Clarinet (a bit sharp is ok, but a crappy B flat is best avoided)
hope that this is somehow helpful
donald
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Author: Wes
Date: 2005-07-22 07:34
Muncie Winds has tubes for recent R13 A clarinets. It helped my instrument. Good Luck!
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Author: donald
Date: 2005-07-22 08:32
In 2003 Phil Muncy sold me a register tube for my A clarinet that turned out to be identical in lengt/bore to an R13 B flat tube. I don't know if he still advises this, it may be that the tube Wes has is a bit longer.
donald
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Author: crnichols
Date: 2005-07-26 18:04
Guy Chadash can take care of that for you also. I just had my R-13 A clarinet register tube relocated and replaced by him. It made a really amazing difference. You can get his contact information on his website: http://www.chadashclarinet.com
Christopher Nichols
1st Infantry Division Band
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