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Re: International shipping from the UK

Author: Chris P
Date: 2022-12-18 20:07

They would most likely stamp the existing serial number on the transplanted joint rather than giving it a whole new one. Buffet do that when they transplant top joints when carried out under warranty as do others.

It's not always necessary to replace all the existing pads on a top joint transplant when transferring and refitting the keywork if they can be reseated, provided they line up correctly with the bedplaces instead of ending up having double impressions on them. The domed cork speaker key pad will probably have to be replaced as they often don't line up unless you get extra lucky.

With CNC machining used in setting out the joints and also facing off the pillars, most clarinets made using that instead of having the pillars faced off by hand will guarantee most keys will go straight on with next to no refitting between the pillars as all the distances between the pillars should be the same on all the same models. It doesn't take into account the amount the pillars have moved due to changes in humidity when the wood swells and shrinks which affects the trill and side keys, speaker key and throat A key far more than the main action ring keys and thumb ring, throat G#, C#/G# and LH3 'sliver' Eb/Bb key.

Resale value on any cracked clarinet will be lower even if it's been done well as it's cosmetic and the quality of the repair will dictate that, although the instrument would be less likely to crack in that same area (but that's not to say it won't crack again somewhere else) and resale value won't be massively impacted if the repair has been done well.

With some top joint transplants, the bores may not always line up at the middle joint where the end of the top joint tenon meets the lower joint socket. I had a 1954 CT which had a top joint transplant done in 1956 and the bores didn't line up with the bridge key correctly lined up. If the joints were rotated by a fair amount and the bridge key was completely disengaged, only then did the bores lined up perfectly.

Former oboe finisher
Howarth of London
1998 - 2010
The opinions I express are my own.

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