The Clarinet BBoard

The Clarinet BBoard The C4 standard

New Topic | Go to Top | Go to Topic | Search | Help/Rules | Smileys/Notes | Log In

Previous Message | Next Message

Re: To all adult amature beginners/late starters

Author: dansil
Date: 2010-07-18 05:02

perhaps a useful alternative to neck straps reducing the strain on the right thumb and wrist extensor tendons is to explore alternative thumb rests. The Ridenour Thumb Saddle was initially quite good for my aching and aged thumb but it didn't/doesn't reduce the leverage which the weight of the clarinet imposes on the thumb because it still puts the pressure on the small bone furthest from the palm.

However the Kooiman thumb rest is fantastic. The Etude model (now up to version 2) and made of plastic is far cheaper than the Maestro (metal) model (which I haven't tried) and places the weight of the clarinet either on the joint between the two thumb bones (phalanges) or onto the thumb bone (proximal phalanx) closest to the palm. Thus the lever being pressed on by the weight of the clarinet is shorter and therefore the thumb extensor tendons don't need to work anywhere as hard as with the old fashioned thumb rests which come with every clarinet. It takes a little while to get used to the Kooiman rest but after a little while it feels "natural" and one feels "naked" when playing a clarinet without this rest!

Some people have complained that their Kooiman thumb rests have broken very easily but I've used one of the original Etude models and two of the Etude 2 models (which have some minor differences. The one downside I have experienced with both models is that the screws provided with the Kooiman have a much more open or coarse thread and are slightly wider than the usual screws used in thumb rests. This means that if they are used instead of the screws from the clarinet's original thumb rest they are quite hard to screw into the original holes and these holes really ought to be drilled a fraction wider. Of course this is most probably too daunting for most clarinetists (it is for me!).

The Kooiman rests are secured to the clarinet by a base plate which is screwed onto the clarinet after the original thumb rest is removed. The holes in the base plate align reasonably well with the holes used to secure most clarinet thumb rests (not the Ridenour unfortunately). The thumb rest slides onto the base plate and is secured with a ratchet mechanism which allows for a certain amount of vertical adjustment up and down the clarinet for personal variations.

But the holes in the base plate are just a little too large for the screws used with the clarinet's original thumb rest to get an adequate grip and so if one tries to use the original screws they just pull through the holes in the base plate! Personally I think that Kooiman needs to rethink the design of the base plate and make it in a thin but strong metal metal with various alternative hole placements to make it work better with a wider variety of clarinets and to allow the clarinet's original thumb rest screws to be used.

Most of the above has only an indirect relationship to the original posting but some may find it useful.

a family doctor in Castlemaine, rural Victoria, Australia for the past 30+ years, also a plucked string musician (mandolin, classical guitar) for far too long before discovering the clarinet - what a missed opportunity!

Reply To Message | Avail. Forums | Flat View

Newer Topic | Older Topic

Topics