Author: kdk ★2017
Date: 2015-02-22 05:54
It *might* be OK if they'll supply the shorter barrel gratis. The original equipment barrel is supposed to be 56.5 mm (from Yamaha's website). Have you measured it, and is that what it is?
I don't know anything about Yamaha "pro" instruments except that they have their enthusiasts and Yamaha generally makes a very good product. I always liked the student level Yamahas the kids rented when I was teaching full time, but I've never spent any time playing their higher level clarinets.
They're obviously anxious to sell it. If you're willing to walk away from it if necessary, you could bargain for a shorter barrel at their expense, or insist on having a second opinion from another competent tech of *your* choice about the instrument.
I have to say that for myself, I would think twice about buying an instrument that doesn't have standard-size parts. No other Bb clarinet I've seen uses anything like a 56.5 mm barrel, so if your daughter decides later she'd like to try an after-market barrel, she will be limited to Yamaha's products or pay the cost to have a custom maker cut one specifically for her. But others may have another opinion about that.
A couple of other thoughts: (1) If the clarinet sat unplayed for a time, the bore may have changed and taken the intonation with it. A couple of weeks of playing it might restore its original pitch, if this is the case; (2) your daughter's mouthpiece may be causing (or at least contributing to) the flatness. The Vandoren Series 13 mouthpieces, while very good and very popular, are designed to play at a lower pitch (A=440 Hz) than their Traditional mouthpieces, which are nominally meant to play at A=442 Hz, supposedly more common in Europe than in the U.S.. If your daughter is playing on a Vandoren Series 13 (M13, M13 Lyre, M15, or any of the more open ones with a small 13 to the right of the bottom of the reed table), a different mouthpiece may solve the pitch problem, but at the added cost of a new mouthpiece.
Karl
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The Clarinet BBoard
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