 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: saxlite
Date: 2005-11-12 21:50
Have just obtained two Selmer Centered Tones without barrels. Would like to get suitable new or used barrels to complete these oldies-but-goodies. Would greatly prefer original equipment barrels with the Selmer logo, as I intend to recondition these and then offer them for sale. Would appreciate suggestions for sources-thanks.
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Author: Don Berger
Date: 2005-11-13 16:42
Hi Saxlite - I'm surprised at the "no response" [as yet], so will give a bit of "kick-off" to help. I have now a V G CT [1954 vintage {.590"= 15.0mm bore dia.}] and have tried a bit of barrel selection. Having several Selmers, I bought a couple of S-P barrels from my fav. repairer, and have concluded that one [or both] are of the later Series 10 Sels, which are slightly smaller bore, thus presenting a slight, but noticeable, bore mis-match, and I was not impressed as to their performance. Having a couple of plastic barrels of about the 15 mm bore, I was surprised at their improvement [highly subjective, of course]. Along the way I borrowed and tried a "Moennig" barrel, didn't like it. This brings up the question of cylindrical vs tapered bores, but I've not found a "scientific" method to help me test it. "nuff" for now, OTHERS, please respond to S L's question. Don
Thanx, Mark, Don
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Author: Chris P
Date: 2005-11-14 00:02
The only .590 bore barrels I know of are plastic Bundy barrels which should work, though they're not exactly aesthetically pleasing.
I was lucky to find myself a new old stock '60s Series 9* barrel recently, and 68mm as well!
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Author: Alseg
Date: 2005-11-14 13:39
Just have a tech. bore out a stock old Selmer barrel and cut to appropriate length.
The CT barrel just has the Selmer wreath logo, no other designation. I think (but not positive) the CT used a 65 or 64 mm barrel.
The bore need not be tapered for this instrument. Tapers were designed to be used with Buffet, and will not do well on Selmer (except on the 10G model).
Former creator of CUSTOM CLARINET TUNING BARRELS by DR. ALLAN SEGAL
-Where the Sound Matters Most(tm)-
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Author: Chris P
Date: 2005-11-14 14:07
My old CT pair came with three barrels - two 67mm and one 63mm, so I shortened one of the 67mm to 65mm to have one of each size, though I did play it mainly with the 67mm one pulled out by 1-2mm for orchestral/chamber music and the 65mm for big band work so it can be played loudly without going too flat.
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Author: ReedChucker
Date: 2005-11-16 15:27
I think you'll have great difficulty finding original barrels. If you find an extra one, let me know and I'll buy it. The best bet would be to have some made for you. But it's not even easy finding someone who can taper to the specific dimensions of the barrel that will work on your Centered Tone. Barrel makers have settled on a taper that works for them and they're tailored more for Buffet R-13's than anything else. So they only carry reamers for the barrels they offer. Most of them provide barrels with dimensions close to Moennig type tapers which are somewhere around 14.9mm down to about 14.7mm. Some have steeper tapers and others have shallower tapers or compound tapers but most tend to be for small bore clarinets. The Centered Tone, a large bore clarinet, has barrels tapered from 15.35 to 15.15 mm. Getting these dimensions is critical to getting the classic Centered Tone sound. I'm in the same situation right now and will be calling Walter Grabner soon to see if he can do one for my Boosey 926 which is almost the same bore diameter as the Centered Tone. I'm hoping he has the capability to vary the dimensions and still provide a smooth bore without a lot of tooling marks. I know that Pyne will tackle it at the cost of about $200 or more.
Post Edited (2005-11-16 15:36)
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Author: Wafaic
Date: 2009-03-04 01:45
Found this post, where I'd try to find an answer to my problem, but no perfect luck...
I own a Selmer Centered Tone.
It is low by 1/8 tone on all the register.
I play it either with a Brilhart Tonalin 2, or a Zinner 518K* mouthpiece.
The length of the barrel is 67.5 millimeters.
I have contacted Selmer France. They replied that it is impossible to find a suitable barrel from them, for the bore of this clarinet is different from the models which they are produced now.
Are the persons who had at that time a similar problem of intonation with a Selmer Centered Tone solved it, and how? By changing the mouthpiece (noted that the bores of the mouthpieces do not match the ones of the barrels) By changing the barrel? For what? And is the bore size correct for the instrument (noted is was 15.35 at the top, and 15.15 at the bottom. Much bigger than on new clarinets.
Any information will be appreciated, thanks,
Éric
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Author: Chris P
Date: 2009-03-04 02:13
Eric, please don't have the barrel shortened whatever you do. Consider having the mouthpiece shortened at the tenon end by 1-2mm, but please, whatever you do, don't shorten the barrel. If you don't want to shorten your existing mouthpieces, then buy a mouthpiece as similar to your favourite and have that shortened if it plays flat.
As Centered Tone barrels are hard to come by anyway, the full 67mm (or 67.5mm in your case) ones are even harder to find. They usually get shortened between 65mm and 62mm which throws the intonation way out.
My CTs play much sharper in the lower register than the upper and are still sharp in the upper register, and that's with the 67mm barrel which I pull out by 1-2mm. Same with my Series 9s, though I did find a new old stock 68mm barrel which I can use without having to pull it out.
Former oboe finisher
Howarth of London
1998 - 2010
The opinions I express are my own.
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Author: shmuelyosef
Date: 2017-05-21 00:18
Just found this old thread...I echo Chris' comments on preserving the 67mm barrel. I have a number of Centered Tones with original 67 and 67.5mm barrels, and mine also tune between 441 and 442 when fully warm and wet, pushed in. I generally keep a 1mm tuning ring in the upper joint, but my registers are pretty good.
I have measured a number of these and I'm convinced that they are not made with a taper reamer, but rather have three diameters bored and then blending by sanding/polishing. They seem to have a very short (3-5mm) ~15.3mm bore at the input, followed my a middle bore of 15.2mm to about 20mm from the top, and then an output bore over the final cm or so. These vary from one barrel to the next in a way that makes me think they are blended bores rather than a taper.
The Series 9 barrels, on the other hand, are absolutely a taper formed by a reamer. Interestingly, the taper angle is virtually identical to the Moennig barrels (both original Buffet Moennig and the Accubores), but are generally about 0.1mm to 0.13mm larger in diameter.
Most of my playing is done with fairly large bore mouthpieces...my primary pieces are the Fobes 4L and Fobes JAZZ, but like the way a Portnoy BP03 plays on the Series 9. I have a few Centered Tones (one a fully enhanced Boehm except no Low Eb so it fits normal cases) but only one Series 9 although I have measured a couple of other S9s
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