 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: Molloy
Date: 2007-04-14 23:01
About four years ago I got a full boehm Centered Tone Eb. I took it to Pro Winds in Bloomington and got it overhauled. I noticed that clarion G wasn't speaking right and took it back. The tech there had me demonstrate, then said that his work was perfect and I just didn't know how to play an eefer. I insisted, and a cracked tonehole chimney was discovered. I got it back the second time and noticed that he had repaired the chimney very carelessly and gotten a lot of glue into the bore. When I went back to complain, he said it didn't matter because it was an old instrument anyway.
I've been lacking a decent technician since I moved to Bloomington, for a few years after that Pro Winds disaster anything I couldn't fix myself I just left broken. I recently found someone who does good work with ordinary repadding and recorking and such, but I wouldn't have him do any unusual work.
The point of my ramble, other than to warn people to stay away from Pro Winds unless they have different employees now, is that I want the bore of my beautiful eefer restored. Is it possible? Who would you recommend?
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Author: pewd
Date: 2007-04-14 23:09
John Butler in Sugarland (Houston) Texas.
You wouldn't believe the job he did on a horribly messed up 1950 Buffet I sent him - its now absolutely beautiful. (full of enough pins to set off a metal detector, but wonderfully restored.) First class work.
http://www.cork-and-pad.woodwind.org/
- Paul Dods
Dallas, Texas
Post Edited (2007-04-14 23:10)
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Author: stevesklar
Date: 2007-04-15 13:21
"he said it didn't matter because it was an old instrument anyway."
Yikes. Not the thing to say to any player.
The CT being the "Benny Goodman" famous clarinet. Kinda like saying Selmer mk VIs saxes aren't worth fixing up properly.
Maybe the tech was having several bad days - or not a clarinet player? I normally tell ppl to give the techs their "chances", per say, but if still dissatisfied then find someone else. It also a good practice to try and find someone local, or within driving distance. But otherwise there's plenty of really good top notch techs around the country.
Steve
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Author: Chris P
Date: 2007-04-15 13:51
"When I went back to complain, he said it didn't matter because it was an old instrument anyway."
What kind of **** attitude is that?
Former oboe finisher
Howarth of London
1998 - 2010
The opinions I express are my own.
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Author: pewd
Date: 2007-04-15 17:16
>What kind of **** attitude is that
That is an example of an attitude, given the nature of the internet, that can quickly destroy a business.
I was sorry to see this post, ProWinds overhauled 2 clarinets of mine in past years, and did awesome work. No matter, my next overhaul goes to Sugarland
- Paul Dods
Dallas, Texas
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Author: Molloy
Date: 2007-04-16 14:26
Does anyone have any experience with getting glue out of a bore? Is it even possible? It seems like it would be very difficult to reach with sandpaper, and trying to sand it down could be risky. Are there solvents that dissolve superglue without destroying wood? I'm so ignorant about these things.
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Author: skygardener
Date: 2007-04-16 14:32
yes, but those solvents run the risk of dissolving the glue that fixed the crack. the best thing is to have it sanded down. not hard, but it takes a lot of paitence to do without mistakes.
Is this a 1 piece Eb?
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Author: Chris P
Date: 2007-04-16 14:33
If the bore is well oiled, it should be possible to break the superglue from the inside by nudging it with a piece of wooden dowel of a similar diameter to the clarinet bore (with a cleanly cut end). But it's not without it's risks - if the glue has set into the wood it could take the wood with it.
Or get a length of dowel and glue some wet&dry paper to it (800-1200 grit) and only paper the glue until it's gone.
Former oboe finisher
Howarth of London
1998 - 2010
The opinions I express are my own.
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Author: Molloy
Date: 2007-04-16 15:49
It is a 1-piece -- if it were 2-piece it'd be pretty easy to reach that tone hole. I don't know if the bore was well-oiled at the time, it was freshly overhauled so I'd hope so, but given the general shabbiness of that tech's work on it I guess we can't be sure. I happened about 4 years ago. The Pro Winds guy himself didn't want to try to remove the glue and by that point I didn't want him to ever touch any of my clarinets again anyway.
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Author: redwine
Date: 2007-04-16 20:55
Hello,
How does the clarinet play? If it plays well, don't worry about the glue. In fact, my repairman, who visits me about once a month has a clarinet that he intentionally put a lot of glue in the bore to improve intonation. Looking in the bore, you wouldn't believe that it could even play, but he sounds great on it.
Ben Redwine, DMA
owner, RJ Music Group
Assistant Professor, The Catholic University of America
Selmer Paris artist
www.rjmusicgroup.com
www.redwinejazz.com
www.reedwizard.com
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