 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: Matt.75
Date: 2013-06-15 11:28
If a Rosewood Clarinet is cleaned daily after use, regularly serviced and taken good care of in general, for about how long can it last?
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Author: Ken Shaw ★2017
Date: 2013-06-15 12:26
Almost any wood will be more prone to warping than grenadilla (mpingo). However, a rosewood clarinet should last very well. If the bore is sealed (say, with epoxy) it should be stable. I would say to take particular care to get all the water out of the sockets when you take the instrument apart to prevent it from soaking into the end grain.
Rosewood is frequently used for recorders and 1-key flutes, on which it looks, feels and plays great. I'm less sure about long-term stability for the more complex clarinet keywork.
Schwenk & Seggelke http://www.schwenk-und-seggelke.de/englisch/klarinetten_historisch.php> makes numerous historical clarinets in boxwood, including a copy of Mühfeld's Ottensteiners, which are physically more complex than Boehm clarinets. Charles Neidich plays them.
Boxwood warps like crazy and requires frequent oiling and constant playing to keep uniformly hydrated. Bill McColl of the Soni Ventorum Quintet had Buffet make a Bb/A pair of R13s in boxwood, but Kal Opperman told me that they quickly became unplayable. However, he made me a boxwood barrel that's very good.
Rosewood should cause fewer problems than boxwood, but it's not as stable as grenadilla. Remember that "rosewood" is a generic name that includes many separately named varieties, such as African Blackwood, Cocobolo, Kingwood, and Tulipwood http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rosewood.
I've tried several rosewood clarinets and found that the played pretty much like grenadilla. Unless you've fallen in love with a particular rosewood clarinet, I don't think there's a reason to switch. In my opinion, the claims of better tone from rosewood are just advertising hype.
Ken Shaw
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Author: Tony F
Date: 2013-06-15 15:37
I have a rosewood Albert system C clarinet from around 1890 which is still in excellent condition, no cracks or warping. Plays well.
Tony F.
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Author: ruben
Date: 2013-06-15 16:05
As usual, I agree with Ken. At the company I work for, we have experimented with rosewood and find that it's the poor man's grenadilla. Other types of wood we have used: mopane, amourette, violet wood; have a very distinctive sound very different from grenadilla. Rosewood, however, has, I find, a sound similar to that of grenadilla, but less rich. -a brighter, reedier sound. Violet wood is excellent but tends to crack, so that pretty much rules it out. Oboists that play rosewood instruments tell me the instrument is "played out" faster than grenadilla oboes. Do instruments play themselves out? That is another debate.
rubengreenbergparisfrance@gmail.com
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Author: HANGARDUDE
Date: 2013-06-15 17:26
Oh, I'm also pondering this question. I recently become interested in an Adler rosewood bass clarinet. So will a rosewood bass need more maintenance or encounter any extra issues which grenadilla doesn't have?
Josh
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Author: kmag55
Date: 2013-06-15 18:01
M'pingo, Grenadilla, African Blackwood whatever you want to call it is a member of the genus Dalbergia of which Rosewood is also a member of. Blackwood appears to be more stable but I see no reason why if a good specimen of Rosewood is found it should not last if properly taken care of. Tulipwood and Cocobolo are also in the Dalbegia family.
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Author: Chris P
Date: 2013-06-15 22:04
Rosewood instruments shouldn't need any more care than grenadilla ones to keep them in good form. I've played a kingwood oboe since 1999 and haven't had any problems with it.
Provided the rosewood has been properly seasoned and played in as well as being regularly serviced as you would with any other instrument, you shouldn't have any problems.
Former oboe finisher
Howarth of London
1998 - 2010
The opinions I express are my own.
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Author: LCL
Date: 2013-06-16 15:40
I have a Selmer Rosewood Model 40 contralto, manufactured circa 1968, and it is a rather beautiful instrument both in appearance and sound! I take care of it just as I do my other instruments made from Mpingo, not more and not less!
Best,
LCL
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Author: HANGARDUDE
Date: 2013-09-29 08:59
There is also an interesting note, however, that while rosewood instruments is more expensive when made by Boehm clarinet makers such as Hanson, they are in fact 10% cheaper than grenadilla ones when made by German makers such as Oscar Adler.
Josh
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Author: ruben
Date: 2013-09-29 09:33
Joshua:
A rosewood clarinet should logically be cheaper as rosewood is cheaper than mpingo. Adler has it right.
rubengreenbergparisfrance@gmail.com
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Author: cyclopathic
Date: 2013-09-30 15:02
if you look at physical properties density vs elasticity of mpingo and east indian rosewood ~0.3mm in thickness would be enough to compensate for resonance difference. Difference btw samples within the same spices could account for as much or more variation.
However rosewood is far more porous, with bigger pores and would change more with water/oil intake, so sound would be more affected with changes.
$.02
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