Author: ErezK
Date: 2014-12-16 23:43
@Norman Smale
You mentioned that the middle B on your 221II is stuffy and slow to speak.
I also have the 221II and my experience is different, there is a *very slight* stuffiness with the middle B, just like with my soprano R13 A and B clarinets and like with most clarinets I have tried through the years, the middle B is slightly more resistive in response but far from slow to speak. I suspect there is a leak in your 221II.
There single/double register should be taken as part of the equation of what makes a quality instrument. The quality of the rest of the implementation is very important as well. FWIW, the Bb lever, operates a different cap than the register cap, I am not sure if it qualifies as double or single register. The mechanism that controls which cap should open/close is similar (though greatly simplified) to the one I have seen in high-end selmers.
Nitai (clarnibass) mentioned in his Amati review (on his website) a very important point - the quality of construction is extremely important, especially with bass clarinets, because they can go out of adjustment easily and at that point it does not matter how brilliant the acoustical design is (or isn't) - the instrument won't play end of story.
As far as the 221II, the build quality, IMO, is of very high level. The only issue I have had with it in the 6 years of owning it has been one rod being overly-tightened in the factory.
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The Clarinet BBoard
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