Author: Kalashnikirby
Date: 2019-10-03 16:36
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Ruben,
as you said there's little to no evidence. No one ever conducted studies, experiments, whatsoever - though I recall someone posted exact bore measurements of older R13 and other clasics and found there where some minimal changes.
But there definenitely hasn't been large scale research publicly available.
However, being wood instruments, it's pretty inevitable that over time, "something" happens with the wood, right? And we do know that boxwood instruments used to have problems that can be adressed by drying/storing the wood better, though personally I'm skeptical whether they can keep up. Well, ask Schwenk and Seggelke, they make 'em, too....
At any rate, pillars coming loose on older/ heavily used instruments and other problems seem to directly correlate to them being made out of wood.
Now what I've experienced (though again, I'm only an amateur interested in this stuff) that on instruments I serviced, some people had what I would call an "erosion" in their upper bore. Asking them specifically, they admitted having humidity/sticky pads issues and that they might have a "spitty" way of playing the instrument. Mind you, this is only my experience and it might be completely wrong. But please take a look at the pictures attached. Surely you'll be familiar with similar cases. This particular instrument was only 10 years old and not that heavily used, but the guy really managed to do... something to his instrument. Being a Schreiber, which are extremely common here in Germany, the wood isn't exactly supreme, but the manufacturing is solid (they're owned by Buffet) and there's no way this instrument was like this when new.
Quite a few makers/ repair people offer to have the barrel rebored, or even the instrument. Someone I know recently had to have their barrels rebored on their top end Leitner + Kraus clarinet, claiming they had warped, which was confirmed by L+K. Now I wonder how this could happen in the first place (don't they store their wood like, forever?), but maybe it's because of that instrument being heavily used. I don't know....
So here's the thing: Why not simply have the upper joint lined with ABS/ebonite (or something similar??) Yamaha has been offering that option on some their Oboes and low end clarinets and I'm pretty sure there's been at least 1 other oboe maker doing this. Or at least offering a synthetic upper joint. There obviously is something happening with the bore over time and it may impact the instruments performance. Knowing old ebonite instruments, despite their flaws, their bore stays smooth over time - why not try to at least carry over some of the "synthetic" advantages? Also there's the Zoom barrel, which is partly ABS - this one doesn't have to be worked on at all and is imensely popular among professionals and amateurs alike.
But to get back to the main question: I personally haven't experienced old instruments to be "blown out" after a good service. There are other factors why I don't particulary know great ones yet (mostly intonation issues... need to get to know more..) but with climate change and exotic woods on the verge of extinction, we all should opt for instruments that actually last for ages.
At the same time, there's so many old instruments that just cannot compete with recent ones. So IMHO replacing the upper bore, besides the arguments others have outlined here, isn't an option. Instead, make one that is more resistant to humidity.
Best regards
Christian
Post Edited (2019-10-03 16:42)
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The Clarinet BBoard
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