 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: Leif LeBaron
Date: 2000-08-08 07:17
I recently acquired a 1954 Selmer which I have cleaned and reassembled. Everything sounds good except low B is "stuffy" (however, the alternate fork fingering is not). Any information on this, or other modifications, etc. would be greatly appreciated.
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Author: Graham Elliott
Date: 2000-08-08 12:10
As a "forked note" low B natural can sound stuffy compared to surrounding notes, partticularly if the reed mouthpiece set up is unsympathetic (for example a slightly hard reed). The question then is whether this stuffiness is apparent to an audience. It may not be, in which case you need not worry about it. If you think it is, try changing the set up.
But another potential cause is if the top right hand tone hole is not being covered by a fully seating pad, when you put down the middle finger ring. The pad may go down as it should using the first ring (and so all the lower notes bar the B operate fine) but, if driven through a connection by the middle ring, it may not seat as it should with that ring. This may have been caused by cork indentation for example. First, check whether that is how the instrument is designed. If so, try the correspondent clarion register F sharp. If that fails to speak well it suggests you may have such a problem (but as you know, F sharp is awkward in any case). Then stick a bit of paper into the offending junction of the relevant driver keys, and try again. If the B is clearer, then try to make the repair permanent.
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Author: David Spiegelthal
Date: 2000-08-08 14:04
Graham makes some good suggestions, but very often this note (with the 'regular' fingering) is inherently stuffy, even with all pads perfectly seated, nice high-opening pad cups, etc. I've found this to be so on probably the majority of bass clarinets I've played and worked on, and I still haven't found a good solution --- it truly seems to be a fundamental acoustic flaw in the bass clarinet design (I know that sounds like a lame excuse!). I may experiment with enlarging a few of the participating tone holes to see if helps, but unfortunately one can only enlarge these holes a very slight bit, and it hardly seems worth the effort. It might be an interesting intellectual exercise to compare the diameter of the relevant tone holes on 'stuffy' instruments with those that don't have the problem.
Sorry I couldn't help, but I'm also searching for the answer to this problem. Let's all keep looking and report on our findings.
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Author: Don Berger
Date: 2000-08-08 16:34
Fine comments, both Graham and Dave, I do agree. Yes, I also believe it is an inherent problem, very much like the poorer tone quality of the side-located C#/G# tone hole [happily mine is front-located, a 3/4 Full Boehm], which I have read is due to the two-joint, usual, construction requiring incorrect location and size of the holes. Notice the diff. between the C#/G# 's on a 17/6 and on a Full Boehm!! It would seem to me that the first "cure" to try would be a bit of undercutting, before any hole enlargement [which might require reducing pad clearance] should be attempted. I believe Rendall [and Brymer?] may discuss this , and if J Butler should read this, please comment.Don
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Author: Leif LeBaron
Date: 2000-08-08 16:57
Thanks for your startlingly quick and useful responses. I was considering undercutting, but I've not done it before. Unless someone can offer enough advice that I can attempt it with confidence, I think I shall experiment with some less expensive tubing.
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Author: David Spiegelthal
Date: 2000-08-08 19:49
Regarding undercutting -- it may help, but not necessarily. I undercut all of the larger toneholes and most of the medium-sized ones on all my bass clarinets, and this has somewhat improved, but never completely cured, the stuffy low-B problem. Let me point out, however, I don't have the standard undercutting tools that 'real' technicians own, I achieve the same effect by chamfering/radiussing the inside (bore-side) rim of the tone holes using such primitive devices as hand files and a Dremel motor with small drum-sander or cylindrical hone attachments. Please don't try this yourself until you've practiced the technique for a while on some junk clarinet joints --- you WILL screw up a few tone holes, guaranteed! And don't drink caffeine before you work, you'll need steady hands!
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