The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: the clarinator
Date: 2001-12-26 19:12
Hi....I'm considering the purchase of a SILVER KING metal clarinet. Good price but has no barrel. Is there anywhere you can suggest I find one? Or is there anyone capable of making a new one? This horn is in excellent shape except for the missing piece and the price is hard to ignore. Any suggestions and/help would be greatly appreciated....
Thanks guys......
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Author: Fred
Date: 2001-12-26 22:25
Realistically, you will probably need to buy a second Silver King to supply your missing barrel. Even at that, the Silver Kings were manufactured over a number of years, and interchangability is not certain. Though I fully understand the lure of a Silver King (have one), this one is very iffy. Contact me offline for some possible leads on a barrel. But no . . . mine's not for sale.
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Author: - ron b -
Date: 2001-12-27 05:03
I'd try the local repair shops first (pawn shops and thrift stores last) to find out if they might have something you can use or adapt to your instrument. That's the easy way.
If that doesn't work out, my opinion is that it's best if you can find a local machinist, preferably one who's also a repair tech, who can fit the piece to your particular instrument. Hands on from start to finish. If you decide to go ahead with the project I'd recommend, right from the start, making it from Nickel Silver.
I've made parts and know, from another fellow's experience, that a metal barrel is not quite as easy as you might suppose just by looking at one. Also, there are several ways you can accomplish this. You need reasonably accurate measurements to begin with and you may need to turn a mandrel or two. A technician I know made a barrel for a metal instrument of his and it turned out to be much more complicated than he'd anticipated. It was worth the hours because the horn is a nice 'collector's piece' now -- (whatever that is Well, *he* collected it :] Otherwise, for an 'ordinary' metal clarinet, I doubt it's worth the trouble. Some Silver Kings were not bad instruments, as I understand, so yours might well be worth the trouble. I mean, if it's a nice instrument and you'll have pleasure playing it... that's reason enough. Whatever the case, you need to start with accurate measurements and it may involve a bit of trial and error to get it just right.
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