 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: Curinfinwe
Date: 2008-10-25 19:45
I bought a pre-1940s Conn at a secondhand store a few months ago, it's wooden, but I am completely puzzled as to what the barrel is made of. It's not plastic, but it's not wood, and it changes colour. Sometimes it's greenish brown, others it's reddish brown, sometimes it's just brown and occasionally it turns black to match my clarinet. Another clarinetist told me that it could be something called gutta percha, but he didn't really know much about it. Does anyone know what this could be, or know anything about gutta percha barrels? I don't think it's the original barrel; there's no stamp or anything on it.
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Author: janlynn
Date: 2008-10-25 20:02
oh ya, its one of those chamelion barrells.
or a "mood" barrell from the 60's
sorry just kidding - i have no idea. could be hard rubber?
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Author: Curinfinwe
Date: 2008-10-25 20:08
I'm pretty sure it's not hard rubber. But I like the idea of the "mood barrel!"
That's what I'll tell everyone who asks me now:
"Geez, what's wrong with you? Haven't you ever seen a 60's mood barrel? It changes colour according to the style of music I'm playing, obviously..."
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Author: Curinfinwe
Date: 2008-10-25 20:37
Of course.
"Hmm," thinks the barrel. "I wasn't cleaned as thoroughly as I like last time she played me, so I'm going to stretch out as looooong as I can and make her play out of tune."
Any serious ideas, though?
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Author: Don Berger
Date: 2008-10-25 20:53
Sorry Cf, the color changing character pretty well defines it as Hard[ened] Rubber of the early 1900's, BUT, yure rite, its not a [thermo]plastic, its a "thernoset" "polymer", doesn't melt on heating. Conn and others used it frequently in their cl mfgr. Its dimensionally "stable". Luck, Don
Thanx, Mark, Don
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Author: Alseg
Date: 2008-10-25 23:21
Take 400 grit sandpaper and gently rub the end or small area of socket.
If the dust is brown and smells of sulfur, it is rubber. If it produces a purplish material, it is plastic.
(If it bleeds...it is alive. If it bleeds green...it is a Vulcan)
Former creator of CUSTOM CLARINET TUNING BARRELS by DR. ALLAN SEGAL
-Where the Sound Matters Most(tm)-
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Author: clarinetguy ★2017
Date: 2008-10-27 00:31
I'm not sure about the barrel, but it reminds me of a story I heard back in the 60s. I used to go to a repairman, an old-timer and a real master, who worked out of his basement. If the repair wasn't too major, he'd work on it while you waited, and he was full of great stories. When he was done, he'd always say something like, "I'll give you my Tuesday special," and his price was always quite reasonable.
Anyway, he'd often talk about the old Conn clarinets. According to him, back in the 1920s Conn clarinets were the best you could buy, so it's possible that you might have a truly outstanding instrument. He seemed a little sad that Conn had cheapened the quality of its clarinets. I might be mistaken, but didn't the clarinetists in the Sousa band play on Conns?
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Author: Curinfinwe
Date: 2008-10-27 01:08
Well, in my mind my clarinet's outstanding. It's my first wooden clarinet; I used to play on a Vito, which was good for the first 6 years I played, but not anymore. The tone quality in the chalumeau is outstanding, and anything in the altissimo just pops out, as if it wasn't that high at all.
So I could be biased, and just comparing it to my Vito, but I think it's great.
And the price I got it for was dirt cheap; it was 25 dollars! Granted, it did need an overhaul and a new case, but my repairman completely repadded, recorked and cleaned it for only 120 dollars, so overall I think I was very lucky to get such a nice clarinet for so little.
Well, that was quite a ramble.
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