 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: xeys_00
Date: 2010-02-14 14:51
I am worried about a new wood bass clarinet cracking. I'd like a new modern bass. However, I am also strongly eyeballing the greenline. Can anyone tell me their experiences with the greenline basses and also how to keep a new wooden bass from cracking? Our humidity meter in the house is reading 21%.
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Author: Ed Palanker
Date: 2010-02-14 18:42
First off, try them both and pick the one you like the most. If you settle on the wood keep a dampit in the case, the real thick one, just make sure you keep it wet every couple of days. In my experience bass clarinets rarely crack because they are so thick. Make sure the rings stay tight. If you're really worried you can get a small humidifier for the room it's kept in. I have an electric radiator heater in my room kept on a rather low setting and keep a pot of water on top of it to add a little humidity to the room to supplement my furnace humidifier, which doesn't do much good in my studio room. Anyway, pick the best instrument you can find and run with it.
I'm still using my old Selmer I bought in 1965 and never had a crack. Actually, I've never had any clarinet crack. ESP http://eddiesclarinet.com
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Author: JEG ★2017
Date: 2010-02-15 01:24
I tend to agree with Ed about bass clarinets not cracking. I bought my Selmer 33 in 1971. The first winter I had the horn I was also my first year as an apartment dweller in Boston. The lack of humidity plus leaving it too close to a radiator pipe caused the lower joint wood to shrink enough to cause binding in the long rods going to the low D, C# and C keys. Luckily the rest of the horn worked fine. I was able to get the wood to expand enough to get the keys working with liberal applications of bore oil applied inside and out. Whether that was the "correct" thing to do or not, I don't know, but 38 years later the lower joint is fine. In all that time the only problem I've had is a hairline crack in the upper joint by the A key that Bill Street filled in with epoxy, if I remember correctly. So you might be concerned about shrinkage more than cracking if you're buying a low-C horn. But that's a care-and-feeding issue. Get the horn that plays the best for you.
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Author: xeys_00
Date: 2010-02-15 13:17
I am interested in how to properly care for and break in a new wood bass clarinet.
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