 The Clarinet BBoard
|
Author: Kristen
Date: 2000-11-26 21:48
I am the proud owner of a wonderful Buffet full Boehm system clarinet. It was made in
1938 before the R 13's existed, however it is a professional line horn and was top of
the line when it was made. This instrument has been completely overhauled and plays
like a dream. Along with the standard Boehm keys, it also includes a left auxilary Eb/Ab
key, low Eb which with the register key makes a wonderful and clear sounding Bb, and an
extra trill key that aids in an Ab to A (C# to D) trill. When I initially got this instrument, my
private teacher said she was jeolous because she had just performed a Mahler symphony
and had to transpose a lot of it. Much of Mahler's music goes down to that low Eb. She
was having to play on her A in order to get the low notes. So, my question to this board
is twofold. If you have any information about these full Boehm system clarinets, I would
love to hear your thoughts. Finally, I was considering renting the instrument out. Does
anyone else rent out instruments, and if so, how do you deal with rental fees, deposits,
contracts, etc.?
Thank you,
Kristen Denny
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Robert Small
Date: 2000-11-27 05:13
One other mechanism is needed to make your clarinet a true "full Boehm"--a forked Bb/Eb. You can tell if your horn has this mechanism by looking at the upper joint--if there's an extra ring (over the hole operated by the left hand ring finger) you have the forked Bb/Eb. Your clarinet should also have the articulated G#/C#. Since it has the G#/C# trill key I'm sure it has the articulated G#/C#. My Leblanc LL has all of the full Boehm mechanisms except for the Low Eb and someday I plan to get a clarinet with this key too. I find all the extra mechanisms to be very useful. And please don't rent this instrument out. Don't even let it out of your sight. New full Boehms are very expensive and usually require a special order to purchase that can take several months to fill.
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Kevin Oviatt
Date: 2000-11-27 12:22
Miserably out of tune is my 1967 FB my new r13 I love though, my teacher won't give a lesson on the full boehm. glad you like yours though
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: ron b
Date: 2000-11-27 20:54
Kristen -
I may be off base here but I'd like to offer my opinion.
Full Boehm Buffet clarinets are not found in the rental department of any store I'm aware of. For good reason.
Rental horns are chosen by/for students who may or may not like the instrument and wish to try one for a while before deciding. Generally, the horn takes a beating. The average beginning band student barely distinguishes a clarinet from a percussion piece, except for the reed, and treat them about the same. Good (sturdy) student horns are made to take a lot of abuse before failing.
Unless you're willing to subject your instrument to that kind of treatment or you know the person you're renting it to verrrrry well -- like, for instance, your teacher :] it would seem to me inadvisable to rent it or loan it -- to anybody.
Do you not like the instrument....???
Seems, from what I'm acquainted with, that people either love 'em or hate 'em. You can't get away with knocking them around too much. Maybe for that reason they're a little too 'temperamental' for most folks. Besides, they're expensive.
ron b
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Kristen
Date: 2000-11-28 03:21
Robert,
Yes, my horn has the articulated G#/C# and the forked Bb/Eb keys. I just didn't know what
they were termed as.
And to set the record straight to Ron B, before this chain gets completely off base from its
original intent, when I mentioned renting this instrument, I was NOT talking about renting it
to students! One would have to be insane. I teach a 6th grade band class. I know how kids
treat horns. I was thinking more along the lines of renting to
professionals on a short-term basis as needed per gig where the horn might be useful. I
love the horn, and I just thought I could make an extra buck with it. There are some people
in town that rent out basset horns for this purpose. They'll rent it for maybe two weeks at
a time and heavily screen each person. My original intent was to see if anyone on this board
had ever rented in this manner, and see how they dealt with the matter. Maybe the right
audience is not here.
Kristen
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: mw
Date: 2000-11-28 04:33
Ron, is correct that these instruments can be tempermental. I think that many repair techs don't like them because they are more complicated to work with. I believe that the extra keys make for a very interesting instrument. In fact you don't have to have all the extra keys to make some techs unhappy ... merely show them the articulated G# and watch their faces. <grin>
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Kristen
Date: 2000-11-28 19:51
What may seem odd is that when I initially took the horn in to my tech, he was
very excited that he was going to have the opportunity to overhaul it. He had no
complaints.
Kristen
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: mw
Date: 2000-11-28 20:13
Well, he sounds like a great one! No doubt, he looked forward to a more technical job or, possibly, he hand't the opportunity or occasion to work on a fb horn recently. He sounds like a winner. mw
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: ron b
Date: 2000-11-29 02:12
Kristen;
Thank you for setting the record, and me, straight. I could have 'assumed' you had in mind to rent the instrument only to professional players. I wouldn't have slept well if I hadn't mentioned the student angle though. I mean, it didn't seem quite as clear in your first message as it is now. Now it sounds like a wonderful idea.
Thank you for clearing this up.
Ron B 
p.s. Hang on to that tech.
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Kristen
Date: 2000-11-29 02:21
No problem. I should have made it more clear that I was talking about renting to
pros in my first message.
Kristen
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Robert Small
Date: 2000-11-29 05:37
As I metioned in my post above I have what I guess you could call a 3/4 Boehm (full Boehm minus low Eb) . And after two years of fairly steady use I have had no problems with the extra mechanisms going out of adjustment. I've had some work done on it but it was unrelated to the extra mechanisms. I don't full Boehms or extra mechanism models are any more "temperamental" or prone to go out of adjustment than standard Boehms as long as they are handled properly.
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
The Clarinet Pages
|
 |
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
