 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: Tony F
Date: 2012-11-03 04:14
Can anybody advise me as to the length of the standard barrel for the Bb 926 Imperial? I have a 62mm barrel that came with the Imperial that plays slightly flat throughout the range. When I fit the 60mm barrel from my Emperor it plays in tune, and is in tune with itself within a few cents.
Was the Imperial barrel ever made in lengths shorter than 62mm? If so, can anybody suggest a source?
I've noticed that with the B & H 926 mouthpiece tuning is fairly even over most of the range, but if I change to other mouthpieces, most of them are flat in the chalameau register, getting flatter as you go down. Can anyone comment on this?
Tony F.
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Author: Chris P
Date: 2012-11-03 12:54
The standard barrel length for the Imperial 926 is 67mm (as it is on the other smaller bore B&H clarinets), so if you're finding the stock short barrel (62mm or stamped 'SHORT' on the back) plays flat, you'll have a lot more trouble with the standard one.
If anything, the 926, Emperor, Edgware and Regent should play in tune with themselves with the 67mm barrel pulled out by around 1-2mm as the throat notes are often sharp on them.
Former oboe finisher
Howarth of London
1998 - 2010
The opinions I express are my own.
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Author: William S
Date: 2012-11-03 13:02
Ha. Well my matched pair of early '60s 926s both have 66mm barrels. I use mouthpieces shortened by 2mm to make them play nicely in tune.
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Author: chris moffatt
Date: 2012-11-03 13:51
My early 1950s 926 came with a 66mm barrel and, with the 926 mouthpiece tunes accurately at 440Hz when cold. Like Chris says, I need to pull the barrel out 1- 2mm (when the horn is warm).
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Author: Tony F
Date: 2012-11-03 14:01
Sorry to mislead, I can only plead old eyes, poor light and too late at night. The correct dimensions of the barrels are 66 for the 926 and 65 for the Emperor.
I found a mouthpiece that plays well with the Imperial and shortened it by 2 mm. It now plays in tune with itself and the tuner. I'm not convinced by this as a permanent fix, so I'm considering shortening the barrel by a similar amount to give me a bit of wriggle room when tuning. Any advice on removing the barrel rings before I shorten it? They seem very firmly attached. If B & H used the same glue they put their pads in with then a jackhammer might be the appropriate tool!
Tony F.
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Author: cigleris
Date: 2012-11-03 14:03
Have you thought about boring out the mouthpiece slightly? Not as big as a 1010 but just a little. This should save you from shortening the mouthpiece.
Peter Cigleris
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Author: Chris P
Date: 2012-11-03 14:08
Enlarging the mouthpiece bore will only flatten things further - strange, but true.
Former oboe finisher
Howarth of London
1998 - 2010
The opinions I express are my own.
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Author: Caroline Smale
Date: 2012-11-03 19:13
The standard B&H 926 mouthpiece has a larger bore than a typical French style mouthpiece and to counteract the flatness this introduced B&H made them approx 2 mm shorter than most standard mouthpieces.
3 926s mouthpieces of various vintages 35+ to 50+ years I have measured came out at 87.3 - 87.8 mm against 89.5 for 3 Vandorens.
Interestingly 2 Pillinger 926 mouthpieces measured just 86 mm.
B&H 926s were factory tuned to play at A = 440 when fully warmed up with the standard barrel pulled out 1/16 " or 1.5 mm.
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Author: Paula S
Date: 2012-11-03 21:41
My B and H 1010s have the two original B and H 2 mouthpieces. The barrels are 64mm and 67. I will never use the 67 as with the 64 it takes me about 20 mins of serious of playing to it up to pitch. I contacted Ed Pillinger as I had thought about getting a shorter mouthpiece. He very kindly advised me to get
my barrel shortened to about 63mm. I think I will get the 67 shortened but I suspect I will need to get extra corking on one of the mouthpieces so that it will still fit the barrel easily.
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Author: Caroline Smale
Date: 2012-11-03 23:42
Not sure why you need "extra corking" as if a barrel is shortened correctly then the socket is re-cut exactly to it's original diameter and depth.
One problem with 1010 barrels is that the rings are solid silver which is very soft and easily damaged during removal of the ring.
One easier solution is to remove 0.5 mm from each end of the barrel without removing the rings, which slightly reduces their width but not enough to notice (and of course each socket also has to be deepened by 0.5 mm also.
This would also only really work on your 64 mm barrel.
Why not have one or both mouthpieces shortened by 1 mm. This is relatively easier to do than shortening the barrels and leaves both your barrels intact.
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Author: Chris P
Date: 2012-11-04 01:44
I've never noticed 1010s had solid silver rings (and have seen some with plating wear) - surely they'd have been hallmarked if they were.
926 rings are deeper than Emperor and Edgware/Regent rings, so taking 1mm off the socket end won't make them look odd - plus the fact that shortening such a tapering barrel with the rings removed will leave a noticeable step when the barrel recess is cut lower and the rings are put back on unless the barrel's outer shape is altered to suit.
Former oboe finisher
Howarth of London
1998 - 2010
The opinions I express are my own.
Post Edited (2012-11-04 01:47)
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