 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: Scotty
Date: 2010-05-11 17:28
Thinking of buying an older R13 that was pinned years ago on the upper joint about 2 inches from the cork (vertical crack about 2 inches long, not near a key or heyhole). Crack is hard to see. So, would this effect the instrument much, tone, or anything else? I know: it's hard to tell, but in principle: any real effects?
RScottVA@gmail.com
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Author: GLHopkins
Date: 2010-05-11 17:51
If the clarinet sounds good to you when you play I'd go ahead and buy it if the price is right. It having been pinned is a good tool to use to get the price down, but I'd have no problem playing a clarinet that had been pinned properly.
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Author: jasperbay
Date: 2010-05-11 17:55
This topic has come up numerous times (type in 'crack' or something similar in 'Search'). I believe the unanimous, or nearly so, opinion is that a good crack repair has no effect on the clarinet's sound.
Clark G. Sherwood
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Author: USFBassClarinet
Date: 2010-05-11 17:56
All the instruments I have played with (well repaired) pins have played just as well as those without. The price tag is usually the only thing that is hurt.
This isn't saying that they aren't out there. and if it is a big crack I would personally avoid it.
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Author: Scotty
Date: 2010-05-11 18:35
These comments help a lot. More are welcome. Not being a "pro," although the clarinet sounds good enough to me, I would not necessarily know what is missing: in other words, the fine edge between the way it sounds now and the way an R-13 "could" sound if there were no crack. (It is not like the crack is in a "sound-board" of a string instrument, which could be fatal, of course.) On the other hand, I imagine a really good clarinet player would not want to take a chance on a pinned instrument...? It sounds to me like at my college-orchestra, recital back then, music-minor level, that I should not worry about an R-13 with a good pin repair, right?
RScottVA@gmail.com
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Author: srattle
Date: 2010-05-11 19:03
I don't know if I believe it or not, but I know people who believe that a properly pinned instrument can come out sounding better than it did before the crack.
My instrument cracked quite early on in the top joint, had a great repair job, and has served me problem free since.
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Author: Caroline Smale
Date: 2010-05-11 20:25
I know of quite a few pros, including at least 2 very top level artists, who are playing on pinned instruments.
25+ years back I bought an R13 circa 1963 which had a major pinned crack at top of joint. It still plays fine.
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Author: Ken Shaw ★2017
Date: 2010-05-11 21:03
Kal Opperman told me that Ralph McLane's A clarinet cracked constantly, and he had to bring it to Moennig over and over to have it pinned. He also told me that the instrument was the best ever. I heard Harold Wright play the Brahms Quintet on it, and I still remember the beauty of the sound.
On the other hand, Kal says that a band around the upper joint constructs the bore and makes the instrument unsuitable for orchestral playing. I have a Bb Buffet from 1929 which has a band at the top of the upper joint and another just above the throat A key. It plays well, but, as Kal says, it lacks the ringing orchestral quality. I use it for practice.
Ken Shaw
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Author: Chris P
Date: 2010-05-11 21:38
Better being pinned properly (and remaining stable since pinning) than being flush banded. I've seen so many flush banded Selmer CTs on eBay that I would have otherwise bid on - I give all flush banded instruments a very wide berth, no matter how well they may have been done.
Seeing a Moennig (Los Angeles) bass with a flush banded top joint demonstrated the harm flush bands can do - there were three distinct ridges in the top joint bore where the three flush bands constricted the wood.
Former oboe finisher
Howarth of London
1998 - 2010
The opinions I express are my own.
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Author: xarkon
Date: 2010-05-11 21:45
My Selmer Signature Bb is pinned on the upper joint. The crack developed externally running from upward from the register key trough up toward the cork. It never entered the bore; so, the pinning (there are two pins) were done to stabilize and seal the crack.
There was no difference between the sound/response/intonation before and after pinning.
Dave
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Author: pewd
Date: 2010-05-12 04:08
i have a 60 year pre-R13 Buffet, with 13 pins, which are the minor repairs on this horn.; its been a retirement fund for repair techs.
The bore looks like a war zone, but it sounds wonderful.
- Paul Dods
Dallas, Texas
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Author: Chris P
Date: 2010-05-12 09:51
My first pro clarinet was an early Selmer CT that lay in an attic for around 20 years. After rebuilding it, it split between the trill toneholes and right through to the bore. The split was filled with superglue and two pins were fitted - hasn't moved since or caused any problems and is still a great instrument.
Former oboe finisher
Howarth of London
1998 - 2010
The opinions I express are my own.
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