 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: clarimad
Date: 2013-07-31 17:22
A colleague plays on a vintage grenadilla B&H Regent but is having problems with his fingers clashing with the C#/G# key. I know the keys are generally weak due to their construction and are likely to break if bent into a new position. Has anyone made adapted keys?
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Author: SteveG_CT
Date: 2013-07-31 17:52
The wooden B&H Regents used keys made from a cast zinc alloy (often call Zamak or Mazak depending on which side of the Atlantic you hail from). As you noted this material is very brittle and will probably break if you tried to bend the key. I would think that you could probably adapt a key from a B&H Edgware fairly easily however and this would likely allow you to bend the key into the desired position.
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Author: Chris P
Date: 2013-07-31 18:01
Later B&H clarinets (from the '60s onwards) had a much longer C#/G# touchpiece arm and the touchpiece is set much further away from the LH3 tonehole, so maybe finding one of these and fitting it would help.
Some post-'60s style keywork should fit the earlier style ('50s) B&H clarinets with no problem.
Former oboe finisher
Howarth of London
1998 - 2010
The opinions I express are my own.
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Author: Tony F
Date: 2013-08-01 00:06
B & H were famous (or notorious) for their "fat" keys. If you had large hands/fingers this was a constant problem. I have fingers like sausages and I like playing B & H instruments, so all of mine have the offending keys re-profiled to a more workable shape. This can be done with a Dremel fairly quickly and then the key is polished to remove any tool marks and plated or not according to choice.
Tony F.
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