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Re: Patricola CL7

Author: kdk ★2017
Date: 2019-08-13 03:59

I bought a rosewood Patricola C in 2007. I don't know what model it is - it was as far as I know the top of their line. While I very much like the keywork, tone quality and response, I had a really big problem with the intonation between registers. Patricola had me send it back and in the end returned it to me unimproved with the suggestion that a different mouthpiece would give a better result. He insisted by email that when he played it back at the factory it wasn't out of tune (I didn't find that the mouthpiece he suggested improved things much, and I wouldn't have used it on my other clarinets).

A little later I connected with Morrie Backun, who did improve it considerably to the point where I can play on it in orchestral contexts with only certain notes still needing to be humored. It has what seems to me to be a very effective mechanism for clearing up the throat Bb. It originally came with a LH Ab/Eb lever, which I took off because I found it too disorienting when none of my other clarinets had one. But if you like having it, it was there.

I don't know when the CL7 you're looking at was made, but if it plays in tune, it might well be a good find. Try before you buy, but if you find serious tuning anomalies, don't assume they can be easily fixed.

Karl

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