The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: CuriousClarinet
Date: 2012-03-28 21:40
So I know alot of you frown on clarinet lamps, so you don't need to mention anything related to that. I'm looking for a clarinet lamp to put in my college dorm. I can't play clarinet in the complex, so I think it'd be a cute reminder. But anyways, I recently read an old post about clarinet lamps that said they might be a possible fire hazard. Is this true? I don't really want to burn my apartment down! =p If you HAD to pick a clarinet lamp, would you go with a metal clarinet, plastic, or half of a plastic clarinet? (To make it shorter)
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Author: Ken Shaw ★2017
Date: 2012-03-28 22:07
Most lamps are made from Bb clarinets, which are really too long for a pleasing proportion with a standard shade. Albert C clarinets go for next to nothing, particularly with a key or two missing. That's what I used for mine.
You'll need a base, since the bell is too small to balance.
With standard electrical fixtures, there should be no hazards. To be sure, fit a piece of PVC tubing into the top socket of the clarinet and put the lamp fixture in that. Make sure there are no bare wires and you'll be fine. You might have some trouble attaching the bell to the lamp base and getting the lamp fit firmly into the top of the clarinet, but it's been done, so you can do it too.
Ken Shaw
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Author: ttay1122
Date: 2012-03-29 06:18
I have a lamp question. How hard is it to reverse an instrument after it has been 'lamped' I found an oboe lamp, and I'd really just like the oboe but I have no idea what the seller has done to the instrument... Maybe I'll just ask the seller if the damage is beyond repair...
Taylor.
P. S. Have fun with your lamp project.
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Author: mvjohnso
Date: 2012-03-29 07:26
Metal clarinets are not fire hazards, some junkers out there as well.
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Author: Bob Bernardo
Date: 2012-03-29 15:41
I've made a few, plastic as well s metal. No problems. Plastic ones look cool if you spray the keys and bend them. - spray with different colors.
Someone posted one a few months ago. Maybe do a search.
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Author: GeorgeL ★2017
Date: 2012-03-29 16:13
Clarinet lamps are easy. Any straight clarinet should work and absolutely nothing will be changed on the clarinet.
At the bottom you need a rigid box with a flat top with a hole in it. (I went to a stone dealer and bought a 8" square piece of a fancy stone with the hole, and built a wooden box to hold it.) A piece of threaded lamp rod a little longer than the clarinet extends through the hole and is fastened at the lower end with a nut and washer that press against the underside of the box top. The clarinet is placed over the rod and a rubber stopper with a hole for the rod is placed in the upper end of the clarinet. The lamp socket and switch screw into the rod. The rod and clarinet are held in place by compression from the nut at the bottom of the box and the stopper at the top of the clarinet.
I could take the lamp apart in five minutes and the clarinet would be just as unplayable as it was the day I purchased it for $50 from a pawn shop.
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Author: SteveG_CT
Date: 2012-03-29 16:20
ttay1122 wrote:
> I have a lamp question. How hard is it to reverse an instrument
> after it has been 'lamped' I found an oboe lamp, and I'd really
> just like the oboe but I have no idea what the seller has done
> to the instrument... Maybe I'll just ask the seller if the
> damage is beyond repair...
I wouldn't get your hopes up. Most of the instruments used for lamps are either damaged beyond reasonable repair or are of such low quality to begin with that they aren't worth repairing.
There are exceptions of course. I remember a while back there was some outrage after someone converted a Selmer Mark VI alto sax into a lamp. IIRC a repair tech bought it on the cheap and then converted it back into a playing instrument.
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Author: GeorgeL ★2017
Date: 2012-03-29 16:22
Clarinet lamps are easy. Any straight clarinet should work and absolutely nothing will be changed on the clarinet.
At the bottom you need a rigid box with a flat top with a hole in it. (I went to a stone dealer and bought a 8" square piece of a fancy stone with the hole, and built a wooden box to hold it.) A piece of threaded lamp rod a little longer than the clarinet extends through the hole and is fastened at the lower end with a nut and washer that press against the underside of the box top. The clarinet is placed over the rod and a rubber stopper with a hole for the rod is placed in the upper end of the clarinet. The lamp socket and switch screw into the rod. The rod and clarinet are held in place by compression from the nut at the bottom of the box and the stopper at the top of the clarinet.
The cord extends through the lamp rod to the switch just as it does it every lamp.
I could take the lamp apart in five minutes and the clarinet would be just as unplayable as it was the day I purchased it for $50 from a pawn shop.
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Author: GeorgeL ★2017
Date: 2012-03-29 16:38
Attachment: ClarinetLamp.jpg (42k)
Apparently, once you preview a message, it will post.
Anyway, hopefully a picture of my lamp is attached to this one.
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Author: CuriousClarinet
Date: 2012-03-30 03:18
Cool! Maybe I'll have to go out looking for a cheap junk clarinet that looks decent and make my own lamp instead of buying one. I get the impression the ones I have seen online are super overpriced, but I do like how shiny/clean some of them look.... I suspect it would be hard for me to make one look that good!
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Author: ttay1122
Date: 2012-03-30 04:02
A SELMER MARK VI! SOMEONE NEEDS TO BE SLAPPED... No but seriously I would have a panic attack if I saw that.
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Author: Ken Shaw ★2017
Date: 2012-03-30 11:57
Curious -
Scrub the clarinet and spray it with ArmorAll. You'll get more than enough shine.
Ken Shaw
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Author: CuriousClarinet
Date: 2012-03-30 14:17
Okay, so say I wanted to make a lamp out of a metal clarinet, what's the best way to go about making it look clean and shiny? All most all of the metal clarinets that I could afford to make a lamp out of are really grimmy.
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Author: Merlin_Williams
Date: 2012-03-30 16:34
CuriousClarinet wrote:
> Okay, so say I wanted to make a lamp out of a metal clarinet,
> what's the best way to go about making it look clean and shiny?
> All most all of the metal clarinets that I could afford to make
> a lamp out of are really grimmy.
Take the pads out, and take it to your local brass tech and ask them to dip it.
Jupiter Canada Artist/Clinician
Stratford Shakespeare Festival musician
Woodwind Doubling Channel Creator on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/c/WoodwindDoubling
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