 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: Al Amir
Date: 2006-03-27 10:36
My Leblanc basset horn has a problem: it's too sharp. When I play with regular A 440 I have to pull out the mouthpiece of about 7-8 mm. Even in this situation it is percfectly in tune anyway. But the mouthpiece moves a little bit and it's not confortable to play. Longer crooks (bocals) are not easy to find, and before adding a small piece of pipe to the one I have, I'm asking if anyone has a different solution.
Many thanks
Al
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Author: Chris P
Date: 2006-03-27 11:17
On my old Selmer basset horn I unsolderd the tenon and added an 8mm piece of tubing into it to bring it into tune with itself, and soldered the lot so it's all hidden. It's easy enough to do provided you have a piece of tubing the right diameter (and my crook is unplated) - fortunately the Selmer basset crook has a 15.2mm bore and I have some nickel silver tubing the same diameter.
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Author: larryb
Date: 2006-03-27 19:55
I have the same issue with my Leblanc basset horn.
I pull out the crook/bocal/barrel as well as the mouthpiece, and I pull out at the the horn's mid section.
When I first investigated buying an adjustable crook, Leblanc told me they they'd list for about $600 dollars. (Now, Leblanc basset horns and altos and Noblet altos come with the adjustable crook, or so I'm told.)
Since then, I'm ok with pulling out to flatten, and I work hard at loosening the embouchure, which we should do anyway.
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Author: Don Berger
Date: 2006-03-27 20:26
I prefer the name "neck" as used with saxes [to add a 4th term] but having adjustables for both of my Selmers, I suggest getting, or Having One Made, for your Leb. $600 is a ridiculous price IMHO. Mine are easy to use, and have "memory" making tune-up simple. Lengthing yours with thin wall tubing should be quite simple, for a metal worker. Don
Thanx, Mark, Don
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Author: Chris P
Date: 2006-03-27 21:05
In the UK, 'crook' is the general term used for that part on all reed instruments - single or double reed. In the US, is it a 'bocal' for double reeds (from oboe d'amore down to contrabassoon) and a 'neck' for single reeds?
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Author: Don Berger
Date: 2006-03-27 22:16
TKS for asking, Chris, I love words, their several meanings and their use in several [musical] languages. I've always associated bocal [French?] with the Fr oboe family [including the German bassoon !!], crook, as you say, is British [I guess], and neck always with the US [at least] sax family . The nearest word I've found [so far] to bocal is the IT "bocca" meaning mouth-related. Will consult a BIG Webster Dict. before long. HELP !, Don
Thanx, Mark, Don
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Author: Chris P
Date: 2006-03-28 14:21
I remember someone a while back with a Noblet alto clarinet that added a crook extention as it was about 8-10mm too short (I contacted the UK Leblanc agent and the price for a new Noblet alto crook was astronomical) - and this has got me wondering - is a Vito/Normandy/Noblet alto clarinet crook the same length (or nearly) as a Leblanc basset horn crook? I know for a fact that Leblanc (pro) alto clarinets have a longer S-shaped crook as they have a shorter top joint in comparison to a Vito/Normandy/Noblet alto, but this wouldn't work on a basset horn as it's too long.
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Author: Al Amir
Date: 2006-03-30 12:39
Thanks to everybody for getting interested in my problem.
Tomorrow I'll be in Frankfurt Music Expo so I'll have a look around and I hope I can find something. Maybe adjustables "necks" are less expensive in Europe, or I may find some similar one.
Al
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Author: Ken Shaw ★2017
Date: 2006-03-30 15:25
A well equipped brass instrument repair shop could splice in some pipe to extend your crook. They should also be able to make an adjustable extension, which brass instruments have in abundance.
Ken Shaw
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Author: Chris Chaloner
Date: 2006-03-30 18:51
I had the same problem with my Bundy alto clarinet. The simplest solution seemed to be to pull the mouthpiece out a bit, so the crook doesn't need to be sor far out. I inserted a ring in the mouthpiece socket for consistency.
Chris
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Author: Al Amir
Date: 2006-04-06 08:46
I got the solution: I went to the Musical Instruments Exibition in Frankfurt, I tryed the new adjustable neck of the Leblanc Basset horn. I compared with my old one and it should fit. It is expensive (245 €) but less than 600 $ that asked to Don.
It will take more than one month to have it. At the moment I inserted three plastic rings, those for water pipes (3/4 of inch!) inside the neck, and other rings out of the mouthpiece. All the stuff is still mooving a bit but not as before.
By the way I tried the very new Buffet-Crampon basset horn : beautiful instrument, with the same mechanism of bass clarinet: very easy to play, with a full sound all the way, up and down. But very expensive...
Happy arpeggios to everybody
Al
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Author: Chris P
Date: 2006-04-06 10:22
If I was to buy a new basset horn I'd probably go for the Buffet.
I've been offered a pro Leblanc alto clarinet as the owner has bought a Selmer Series 9 which he wants serviced - so it looks like I could have a bargain there. I'd probably get a smaller case for it as it's in one of those long cases with the joints attached.
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Author: jez
Date: 2006-04-06 12:35
If you know a good maker/technician you could have a wooden crook made to whatever length you require. These also make a wonderful sound and look terrific, especially with a wooden bell.
jez
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Author: Al Amir
Date: 2006-04-07 07:48
I considered the wooden neck, but the shape of the Leblanc neck is difficoult to make in wood. The wall of the metal piece going in the wood is too thin. But if you know anybody able to do it, please let me know: I'm still in time.
Thank you
Al
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Author: Chris P
Date: 2006-04-07 10:39
The wall diameter can be the same as the diameter of the joints, but it would probably have a metal tenon - a bit like a wooden flute headjoint made to fit a metal flute.
There's a company in Greece specialising in wooden crooks - even tenor sax and bassoon crooks in wood! I can't remember their name, but it was mentioned on here a while back - I'll see if I can find the link.
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