 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: bwilber
Date: 2006-12-28 11:24
Hi. I bid on an Evette on Ebay with a serial number starting with E and it said sponsored by Buffet and the people who sold it said it was plastic but of course I didn't believe them because I thought that it would be wood. When I got it, I see that it really is plastic. I think that it could be bakelite because when I polish it with chrome polish, it leaves the cotton ball yellow, even though the piece that I polish is very clean. When I put it in hot water though, I don't get that really putrid smell but I can smell it a little bit. The top keyed section has a metal center that looks like it could be brass but I can't tell for sure what it is, only that it's a yellowish metal. The serial numbers match on the 2 center pieces, but the bottom keyed section does not have a metal center. The bell is not original but is an Artley. Most of the screws are in rusted bad shape and one rod I can't get out at all and to get it out will be really hard, but unless I can get it out, I can't overhaul the bottom keyed section at all, so I was wondering if this thing is worth going through all the work. Once I get it apart, I am thinking that I will have to try and find some good screws, etc., to replace the mashed up ones and I don't know where I can even find replacement screws, etc., for old Buffets. I am wondering if it being a double-walled Bakelite clarinet, makes it worthy of fixing it up? Thanks for any help you can give me.
Bonnie Wilber
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Author: Chris P
Date: 2006-12-28 12:06
Some ebonite bodied clarinets had a nickel silver bore lining on the top joint - I think they were possibly by Malerne (though stamped Selmer Console) - I don't think Bakelite clarinets would have had a bore lining as the earlier (bakelite) B&H, Bundy and Vito and other high density plastic clarinets were pretty heavy enough.
Do you mean ebonite (hard rubber)? Bakelite clarinets usually have a high gloss finish that doesn't come off, but ebonite will usually dull down, give off a rotten egg smell and the ends of the tenons and sockets can look slightly grainy where it's been machined.
Former oboe finisher
Howarth of London
1998 - 2010
The opinions I express are my own.
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Author: Lelia Loban ★2017
Date: 2006-12-28 12:07
I've never heard of a Bakelite clarinet and think it's most unlikely that's what you've got, since Bakelite is much too fragile for a clarinet. Your description sounds to me like hard rubber. By the way, old hard rubber is also considerably more brittle than plastic, and will break if dropped or banged hard. A sharp knock that wouldn't hurt a plastic clarinet can shatter hard rubber (which is why manufacturers dropped hard rubber eventually and used plastic instead). That's probably why the bell of your clarinet has been replaced with an Artley bell: The original probably broke.
It's normal for a hard rubber clarinet to have a metal sleeve inside the upper stack. That's to prevent the shape from distorting over time. Be very careful about leaving that clarinet in the sun or doing anything that heats it up. The lower joint will warp badly if it heats up and even the upper joint with the metal insert will distort around the holes, making the keys fail to fit properly. Sunlight bleaches the color. In fact, the color you describe is what results from a rubber clarinet being exposed to sunlight.
By any chance, is the color paler on the side with the keys? If so, then your clarinet looks like many rubber clarinets I've seen at outdoor flea markets. The dealer leaves the case open in daylight to show customers what's in there, and the part of the clarinet that's exposed gets paler and more yellowish-greenish with each day on display. If the color is uniform all the way around the instrument, then it's probably just the normal result of chemical changes in the rubber over time. These clarinets can look enough like wood to fool a person when they're in perfect condition, but eventually most hard rubber does become paler and more brownish.
Although these old hard rubber clarinets are insteresting curiosities, they were cheap instruments sold to beginners. I don't think there's much demand for hard rubber clarinets except among "completist" collectors who want to save one of everything--and an Evette wouldn't send these people into paroxysms of delight, since hard rubber Evettes are fairly common. The replaced bell would put this one into the close-to-worthless category, IMHO (but FWIW, I'm an amateur both as a musician and as a clarinet-hoarder). The only rubber clarinets I've tried have had un-fixable mechanical problems and played poorly.
Lelia
http://www.scoreexchange.com/profiles/Lelia_Loban
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Author: Ken Shaw ★2017
Date: 2006-12-28 12:32
Even if you want to do all the restoration yourself, take the horn to a repair shop to have the stuck rod taken out. They have special tools to do this. You should also replace the rusted screws, and a well-equipped shop will have boxes full of screws and rods, which they will probably give you to avoid having to work on an old, smelly piece.
Evette (as opposed to Evette & Schaffer) was a student instrument. The value is probably low, particularly in the rough condition you describe.
Put into good shape, it should be a decent nstrument. With a good mouthpiece and barrel, it will play quite well.
Ken Shaw
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Author: bwilber
Date: 2006-12-28 12:35
Thanks for the info. Actually I have had hard rubber clarinets and I am familiar with the color that they turn and this one is a shiney black, not the brownish color that rubber turns. I saw on Ebay how to tell if something is bakelite and they said to rub it with some chrome polish and the cloth will turn yellow and so I rubbed it with chrome polish with a cotton swab and the cottom swab did turn yellow and it is shiney and black, not brownish, which leads me to think that it could be bakelite. I have seen some clarinets advertised as bakelite. If it's actually bakelite, do you still think it's pretty worthless? Thanks
Bonnie Wilber
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Author: tictactux ★2017
Date: 2006-12-28 13:14
Bakelite is often used as a generic term for thermo-setting (as opposed to thermo-plastic (ie melting)) resin. The material of old Bundies remarkably resembles bakelite in brittleness, elasticity (or lack thereof) etc, so it is understandable the manufacturers of such clarinets chose a close moniker like Resonite or Ebonite etc.
So, in a way it is Bakelite, yet in another way it isn't. What counts IMHO is what the restorer and the player make of it...
--
Ben
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Author: Chris P
Date: 2006-12-28 15:21
The old Bakelite-ish B&H clarinets (Regents, Edgwares and Emperors) played remarkably well on account that a perfect air-tight seal could be achieved, as well as the density of the material used which appears to have machined well (although the basic joint was moulded to the correct dimensions, the toneholes, spring slots, chimneys, etc. were machined).
But they were brittle (snapped tenons and joints were common) - same as the old Bundys, Vitos and Yamahas made of this plastic - and the Bundy bassoons made from it weighed a ton.
Former oboe finisher
Howarth of London
1998 - 2010
The opinions I express are my own.
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Author: Synonymous Botch
Date: 2006-12-30 12:34
This sounds like a Schreiber and Sohne model that was branded with the Evette badge... I had one of these come through in the 1990s.
It was a resistant, tough piece of work - built for the rigors of kiddie usage.
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