 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: RAL
Date: 2015-06-02 00:15
I got a Ridenour 147 clarinet in Ebay. It was listed as "barely used", but at the end it was just plain used and abused... The seller was good at the end, he partially refunded what I paid, and I guess that at the end for US$ 43.50 I cannot ask for a mint state...
The box is in decent shape in the outside (it has a very nice latch system), but the interior is kind of velvet covered styrofoam, and it is not as good at all, as the styrofoam is broken under the cloth in several places.
I need some guidance to try to put it in reasonable shape, and I have some questions, for anyone that has or knows this model.
1) Springs feel farily loose and weak compared to my Noblet 45. Is this normal, or are they just worn out?
2) Keys are bent, some of them hitting other keys. They seem quite soft, compared again to my Noblet. Same question, is this normal, are the keys in the Ridenour 147 kind of soft?
3) Some key corks seem pretty thick, and the range of movement for the corresponfing keys (trills and A key) is somewhat limited, compared to my Noblet. Again, is this normal.
4) The mouthpiece tip rail has a 1mm chip. I assume it should go straight to the garbage can, correct?
Here are some pics for the above mentioned points.
Thanks!
http://i246.photobucket.com/albums/gg85/rodrigoandai/IMG_6830.jpg
http://i246.photobucket.com/albums/gg85/rodrigoandai/IMG_6824.jpg
http://i246.photobucket.com/albums/gg85/rodrigoandai/IMG_6823.jpg
http://i246.photobucket.com/albums/gg85/rodrigoandai/IMG_6829.jpg
http://i246.photobucket.com/albums/gg85/rodrigoandai/IMG_6826.jpg
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Author: BflatNH
Date: 2015-06-02 01:11
Stiffer springs are not necessarily a good thing. For me, lightest possible (opens the key if normally open, holds it closed at ffff if normally closed) is preferred. Cork thickness may be used to adjust intonation of that note, so for your clarinet, thicker may be needed. Also, I find minimizing key travel (and uniform height with adjacent keys) desirable, so a thicker cork may be good.
Check out relative pitch (clarinet 'in tune with itself') of each note (without 'lipping up' or 'lipping down') over the entire range and see what you get.
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Author: fskelley
Date: 2015-06-02 02:43
TR 147's vary all over the map, even if in good repair. I had an excellent example that was my only clarinet for about a year. When I sold it and upgraded, the only thing better on the pro level Yamaha was the keywork- acoustically the 147 was right on.
A couple of clarinets later I got another newer 147 to use as a backup. It seemed to be in great shape, but intonation was just awful on a few notes, which caught me by surprise. I didn't have the skills to fix and it wasn't worth the price or trouble of repair. So I described it accurately and resold it, buyer was happy, go figure.
About 2 yr ago I ended up with a new Arioso ASB101 straight from the Ridenours, still very happy with it.
So make sure yours is a good example (or can easily be turned into one) before investing much in repairs. There are lots more where that one came from. And don't feel bad about reselling it either- your buyer may still be moving up from whatever they were playing before.
You have a good chance of ending up with a first class clarinet at a bargain price.
Stan in Orlando
EWI 4000S with modifications
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Author: RAL
Date: 2015-06-02 02:55
I will be doing the repairs myself. The first impression was a shock, I wanted to send the sucker back...
But the keys are straight now (again, very soft compared to my main clarinet, but good for putting then back in shape...).
Another advice I need is with what product to clean it. It does smell a little and it is dirty, surface, bore and toneholes. Especially the bore.
I read that alcohol might not be good for ebonite? I would really like to disinfect it before playing. What shoud I use to clean the bore? What can I use to make it smell good?
Should I just throw the mouthpiece?
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Author: jdbassplayer
Date: 2015-06-02 12:20
When I clean a dirty clarinet I like to first use a large soft paintbrush to dust away all of the loose debris on the instrument and then wipe the exterior down with a cloth. I would then lightly polish the keys with a polishing cloth. I would also recommend vacuuming out the case before you put the instrument back in.
On a side note this clarinet appears to be one of the ones hand finished by Mr. Ridenour based off of the synthetic cork pads and the type of case. Does it have a serial number on the back? If so I would contact Mr. Ridenour and see if ever went through his shop. I had one of his hand finished 147s a few years ago and found it to be quite a wonderful and well in tune instrument. You may have quite a nice gem in the raw there.
Best of luck with your new clarinet!
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Author: TomS
Date: 2015-06-02 20:44
The RCP-147 was not Tom's best instrument in many respects ... acoustically well designed but if not tweaked by Tom himself, may have more issues.
The 146 was a better clarinet.
I think soft keywork was one of the complaints with the 147.
I play the Lyrique Libertas and Speranza and they are NOT soft! Pretty tough alloy.
Tom
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