 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: Bill Lees
Date: 2001-07-31 20:26
My son,age10, has played for a year. I bought an old Lafleur instrument because it was cheap and available. I dont know anything about clarinets.
There are fine cracks in the wood, if it is wood, and the mouthpiece is well worn.
My son has just achieved grade 1 and wants to progress. To me the instrument sounds wheezy. Is it worth getting it serviced or should I scrap it and buy a better one? If this is the case what should I buy?
Thanks for your help,
Bill Lees
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Author: Jack Kissinger
Date: 2001-08-01 14:41
The best thing would be for you to take the instrument to a music store that has a good woodwind service technician. (This will probably not be a guitar and drum store.) They can tell you what the instrument is likely to need, if anything, and what it will cost. If you didn't buy the instrument from a store that put it in "good playing condition" first, it probably does need work of some sort and probably did from the start. The store should also be able to tell you what the instrument is made of and whether it's worth repairing. However, if the repair estimate comes to more than $50 or $60, you probably shouldn't bother. In its present condition, the resale value of the instrument is probably around $60 - $80 at best. After repair, the resale value will probably be... around $60 - $80. There were, particularly during the first half of the 20th century, many small French companies manufacturing clarinets. Some of their instruments play very well. ("Made in France" became synonymous with quality where clarinets are concerned.) Unfortunately it's sometimes difficult to separate the wheat from the chaff. That's where the repair technician can be invaluable. Also names can be misleading and some manufacturers took French-sounding names for decidedly non-French quality instruments.
You should also talk to your son's teacher or band director. It's hard to diagnose a problem like the one you describe without seeing and hearing your son play and performing some hands-on with the instrument. The problem could be the instrument. An instrument that leaks air, usually around one or more pads, can be harder to blow than it should be, resulting in a breathy sound. If "wheezy" means you hear alot of air in your son's tone, however, the culprit may actually be the mouthpiece. (Is it a "Lafleur"?) It was probably not designed for a beginner and may be damaged. Have the repair tech look at it, as well. A good student mouthpiece (I can enthusiastically recommend the Hite Premier or Fobes Debut) will cost around $25 -- $30, including shipping and may make a big difference in your son's sound and ease of producing a nice tone. Be careful though, if the store doesn't have much of a selection, they may try to sell you what they have in stock and what they have may be totally inappropriate for someone at your son's level of development.
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