Author: clarnibass
Date: 2023-02-04 11:29
>> Donald & Nitai: The Buffet Tosca and most German bore basses have that triple register/vent mechanism, and so does my Selmer Privilege(a modification by Das Blashaus) which is very similar to the Tosca's. <<
Yes I'm familiar with those. I've seen a few German ones and I've played and worked on a bunch of Toscas. For some reason when I play one (a Tosca) I like it overall less than the 1193. That is, if I thought this modification was worth it to me, then I would do it. The standard fingering throat Bb and the lower clarion all respond surprisingly well as is.
If I had a triple register mech on my bass I would want it to change at altissimo C#, or maybe even slightly below, but the problem is there aren't any specific keys to that range to do that so it's not realistic if you want to keep fingerings the same, which I definitely do.
Maybe a second manual lever and key, same location but smaller, is a decent option, but considering how often I would use it, not worth it either.
I have modified the neck vent hole on the 1193 (see the Keepers forum) to what I consider the best compromise for E up to altissimo. The stock size is a different compromise that might work better for some players. For others who brought their instruemnt for me to modify, most preferred slightly smaller than what I liked, but larger than stock.
>> Since you have a metal neck (as with most basses) I'm not entirely sure how difficult it is to solder the posts & the upper register vent on it. So be prepared in case you need to purchase a 2nd all-new customized neck with the upper register vent built-into the neck. <<
Soldering the parts is probably the easiest part of the entire modification. The body part of the modification has to be done either way so it would be simpler than to get a new neck, however...
>> ...either by Karsten Gloger... <<
It's not like Gloger is the same as a large company cranking out instruments, but he is still set up specifically for making necks in a much more efficient way so prices are very reasonable.
>> That being said, having a new neck made and having the vent relocated to the neck is going to be thousands of dollars in work. <<
Maybe. It depends.
A whole new tunable neck with a register key and vent for Buffet from Gloger is €650 (or €750 for silver). A Leblanc neck (without a key) is less but I assume you can get one with a key and price is pretty much the same as the Buffet neck.
That's for a whole new neck. Just making a key, tube and modifying the stock neck is a lot less than that, even if it has to be completely custom made (or even less if you can get parts from a spare neck, or for someone who is more specifically set up for making parts like these).
As far as the mechanism, I don't have a Leblanc bass here, but assuming the photo in the first post is the standard mechanism, the top lever moves in the opposite direction i.e. as is, when pressing the register lever, it would close a neck key instead of opening it.
I'd want to have one in front of me to think more about the best option, if it came to that. Maybe the most elegant solution is to fit a whole new mechanism (from a model which has one), but the most practical is probably just adding a see-saw lever between the current key and the neck key to switch the direction.
Fitting a vent and key to the neck and adding a see-saw for reversing and probably modifying the current key itself (to a lever) shouldn't cost thousands of dollars. Without seeing it in person and with just a quick thought, that seems to be the simplest way of doing it.
The question is why.
>> Also, does anyone know if there is a way to have a tech move the second register key from the body to the neck. <<
At first you asked about making the neck tunable, which is definitely a huge improvement. A water key is nice to be honest, though I haven't bothered adding it (I just lean the instrument to the side instead...).
What are you trying to improve by moving the vent to the neck? Is there a specific response issue that you are trying to solve?
Not knowing how much not having part of the mechanism on the neck had to do with Leblanc's decision, I can't imagine they didn't consider the design and acoustics when they put the register vent where it is.
If it is a mechanical reason that you want the vent on the neck, that makes no difference at all. If anything it adds a disassembled area for it so it's worse in some ways.
If you feel it doesn't respond as well as some bass clarinets like Buffet and Selmer with the key on the neck, it's not as simple as that. The location, size and length of the vent tube take into consideration the overall acoustics of the instrument.
I've modified and moved register tubes on bass clarinets before, not on this model and I would be hesitant to do that, even though I developed a good feel for the effects of these changes (in addition to some modifications, bass clarinet is also my main instrument). Maybe others can say what the difference will be exactly on this particular model, by moving it that much higher, by calculations alone. Though being able to play it would be a good starting point.
As a test, once you decide on the best position for the vent on the neck, you could drill the hole where the vent would be, but smaller, only the diameter of the vent itself. You can then test left hand notes by just opening and closing that hole, and have someone else help you test the right hand notes (E to F# and some altissimo).
At worst you could plug the hole and have a small mark if you don't mind it.
It's not exactly the same as a real vent, but it would give a close estimate.
If you do this, remember to not only test the clarion range, but also transition from different areas of the lower range to the clarion range. The modification of the register tube on my bass helped a lot with the latter, and made a very small difference to the former.
If there is some other reason you are considering moving the vent, like a specific response problem, it's better to look at the problem and a possible way to solve it, instead of moving the vent in such a general way.
Looking at jdbassplayer's photo, first of all that's an older model which in stock condition doesn't respond as well as the current model in part of the range.
The alignment seems to be the lower register vent (Bb tone hole). Have you checked how is the alignment of other things too? Just wondering if the lower reg tube on the Leblanc is higher in relation to everything else, also raising the upper reg tube. Or are they pretty much the same?
At least in the first photo (in the OP) the Leblanc lower tube does look smaller than e.g. current Buffet/Selmer.
Post Edited (2023-02-05 07:20)
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