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80 year old clarinet

Author: taccat
Date: 2014-10-22 06:03

Good evening! I have an 80 year old Buffet clarinet with a low e-flat key. Sounds beyond wonderful. It has been overhauled, but is always needing adjusting (the metal appears to be soft). The clarinet is also having intonation issues. Is it time for a new clarinet or is it user error? I went to a clinic with Robert Spring and he stated to me that clarinets "blew out" as they aged. Mind you he did not look at my horn...I do not know what to do regarding this issue. I love the clarinet as it has a deep rich sound also, to buy a new or newer horn may not be in the cards at this point. Can these horns be re-bored? Any and all advice would be extremely appreciate. Thank you!

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Re: 80 year old clarinet

Author: Tony F
Date: 2014-10-22 09:09

There are those who will say that clarinets do not "Blow out", they just go out of adjustment. Mostly I agree with this, but it is possible for a clarinet to develop an oval bore after a long period of use. It depends a lot on the quality of the wood and how well its been maintained. Get the tech to have a look at your instrument and give an informed opinion rather than an "off-the-cuff" remark. I'd suggest a different tech to the one you saw before.

Tony F.

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Re: 80 year old clarinet

Author: Wes
Date: 2014-10-22 10:06

Yes, I have 1912 and 1921 Buffet clarinets with the low Eb and neither is "blown out", despite years of use. Both play well. Try to find a repair expert who can adjust yours properly and you will like it even more.

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Re: 80 year old clarinet

Author: Pastor Rob
Date: 2014-10-22 13:05

I have an old Selmer full boehm made in 1935. It also sounds great, but was in pretty badly used condition when I got it. Larry Naylor did an historical restoration on it. Now it looks as good as it sounds. Mine had no intonation issues, but Larry claims his oil immersion has corrected intonation issues on other clarinets. It wasn't cheap, but I think it was money well spent.

Pastor Rob Oetman
Leblanc LL (today)

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