 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: SunnyDaze
Date: 2020-01-27 14:11
Hi,
I have this old E. J. Albert clarinet that is really not useable because it is out of tune. I wondered if anyone knows if Buffet would recycle it into a greenline clarinet to save a few rainforest trees if I sent it to them? It seems a shame for it to be doing nothing, and yet another really talented technician has just told me that it's definitely worthless and not fixable.
Thanks!
Jennifer
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Author: Fuzzy
Date: 2020-01-27 15:06
I don't know about Buffet, but I'm sure there are plenty of players out here that would love to own an E.J. Albert clarinet.
Many clarinets made prior to the 1920s (or so) are "out of tune" by today's 440/442 standards. However, this doesn't necessarily devoid them of worth/value.
For instance, I own (and play) several pre-1900 clarinets. They do have intonation challenges, but most of them can still be played with other instruments given some effort/adjustment of embouchure, fingerings, etc.
I would think straight re-use would be the best environmental option requiring the least amount of resources.
Fuzzy
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Author: John Peacock
Date: 2020-01-27 16:55
If you look at the Buffet videos on youtube, it seems pretty clear that machining a single clarinet probably makes more than a clarinet's-worth of grenadilla sawdust. So until the demand for greenline instruments outstrips standard wooden ones, I suspect they have more grenadilla dust than they know what to do with, and that most of it is just disposed of. I wonder indeed what the sales figures for greenline instruments are? I don't know anyone who plays one.
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Author: Steven Ocone
Date: 2020-01-27 17:50
You can donate it to a repair school. The students use them to practice repairing cracks.
Here is one: http://www.southeastmn.edu/academics/MajorDetail.aspx?i=722
Steve Ocone
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Author: TomS
Date: 2020-01-28 10:47
I doubt that Buffet uses the sawdust from clarinet bodies after they have been core drilled and soaked in oil. Don't think the grenadilla particles would adhere together well, even after combining with resin and carbon fibers (or is it polycarbonate?). I'll bet they use the scraps from the initial turning down of the raw block of wood and any other waste before the oil soak.
IMHO, Buffet made the greenline material so they could sell composite clarinets and make people feel better in that they were getting a (kinda-sorta) wooden instrument. Real solid wood is steak. Greenline is meatloaf. But, I like good meatloaf as much as steak ... (until I went Vegan). Buffet could have made the clarinets out of hard rubber or plastic (if people could overcome their "wood bias") and the clarinets would be more stable, lighter and cheaper. My plastic Alpha and rubber Libertas have wonderful sounds ... warmer and smoother.
The greenline material has to be manufactured and it is harder and wears out Buffet's tooling faster. So it seems that the all wood instruments might be actually cheaper to build?
Tom
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Author: Steven Ocone
Date: 2020-01-28 18:15
I wonder how much the Greenline clarinets respond to temperature change compared to plastic. A woodwind doubler was in my shop last week and said that he had difficulty keeping the plastic clarinet in tune when he was switching back and forth between instruments.
Steve Ocone
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Author: Paul Aviles
Date: 2020-01-29 06:08
Temperature changes affect pitch exactly the same on Greenline. Pitch has to do with how excited (or not) the air column is. Plastic though will change dimensions more drastically than Greenline (plastic horn keys will bind more in similar cold weather compared to Greenline).
..............Paul Aviles
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Author: fernie121
Date: 2020-01-29 07:02
Buffet doesn’t mind charging a lot of money. I’m sure the move towards green line has more to do with the supply of wood than the cost/performance/stability of the material. I do wish more manufacturers made their clarinets out of hard rubber. It’s a material we know to be stable, well-workable and sound great.
Brad Behn mentioned in an interview somewhere that he was “looking into” making a clarinet of his own with his Behn rod rubber II. That would be very exciting!
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