 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: diz
Date: 2007-01-09 22:41
I will, eventually, sell my soul/body/apartment and purchase a contra bass clarinet. And I thought the choice was fairly limited ... then I stumbled upon this German maker ... anyone heard of these beasts or seen them and have any feed back?
http://www.eppelsheim.com/kontrabass_klarinette.php?lang=en
N.B. I do not work for Eppelsheim nor do I have any dealings with them.
Without music, the world would be grey, very grey.
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Author: diz
Date: 2007-01-10 00:13
Stephen Fox's instruments are devine ... he's been in Australia fairly recently and spent some time in Melbourne ... check out the events calendar for 12 January and you'll be able to hear him play.
Without music, the world would be grey, very grey.
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Author: Ken Shaw ★2017
Date: 2007-01-10 00:48
Steve Fox doesn't list a contra, and I don't think he plans to make one. Even the bass clarinets he lists on his site have just come out of the prototype stage. Perhaps Kal can tell us which model he got and how it plays compared to Selmer and Buffet models.
The Eppelsheim contra looks beautiful, but, again, I'm not sure it's in production yet. The price is certain to be high.
There has been a long discussion of a Besson contrabass on the Contrabass board and also the Yahoo Bass Clarinet board, which you should read for the information and for some excellent pictures.
Ken Shaw
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Author: kal
Date: 2007-01-10 01:24
Ken, I wish I had the disposable income to own a Fox bass; alas, I do not. I just reeeeally want one. Maybe in a decade or so...
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Author: David Spiegelthal ★2017
Date: 2007-01-10 03:09
In the meantime, a Selmer straight rosewood BBb contrabass or a Leblanc paperclip contrabass are not bad things to have around the house.............
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Author: clarnibass
Date: 2007-01-10 03:45
Sorry that I don't have antyhing to say about the Eppelsheim contrabass, but I have some experience with the Selmer rosewood and Leblanc metal (straight model). I haven't actually played them, but I heard the same (about 3 or 4 I think) play each of those at the bass clarinet festival. They all seemed to play more freely (especially keywork-wise) on the Leblanc. The sound for all of them (who used the same mouthpiece on both) was MUCH better on the Leblanc. That's "my" limited experience with them. If I wasn't objective, then if anything before hearing them I assumed the Selmer would be much better.
Hope this helps a little.
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Author: Terry Stibal
Date: 2007-01-10 04:12
I've experienced both of the Selmer products, as well as both the Eb and Bb Leblanc "paperclip" instruments, and I have to agree that I got better results from the Leblanc horns, this with swapping the mouthpieces between Slemer and Leblanc products. This is high praise indeed from a "Selmer forever" clarinet player.
The metal horns are lighter to carry, more compact to transport, (from maybe five years of experience with them back in my high school and college daysfar more facile both in the blowing and in the playing.
I'd not spend the money on them, however, as good as they are. Too much money tied up in something that would seldom come out of the box unless I went looking for excuses to play them.
leader of Houston's Sounds Of The South Dance Orchestra
info@sotsdo.com
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Author: David Spiegelthal ★2017
Date: 2007-01-10 04:17
My only experience with the Selmer rosewood contrabass was, two summers ago when ClarinetFest was held in Maryland, sitting in the "adult" clarinet choir next to Paul Sargent of the British Clarinet Ensemble, hearing him play his. He sounded fabulous! Granted, his was extensively modified with TWO additional register vents, along with other gadgets and gizmos.
On the other hand, it's basically the same design as my Selmer Bundy (labelled "Buescher" but who cares) EEb contra-alto, which plays quite well. So I'd expect good things from the contrabass. I have played a Leblanc straight metal BBb contrabass, and it's a pretty good instrument -- very free-blowing indeed, but I think its sound is less refined than that of the admittedly more resistant Selmer contras.
Machts nicht, I can't afford any of them! Send me whatever you've got, Selmer or Leblanc or Fox or Eppelsheim -- I'll take it...........
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Author: Terry Stibal
Date: 2007-01-10 14:26
I passed on a Bundy contra-alto (which is really the true bass of the clarinet family, but why quibble, right?) for all of $200, figuring that it had been lifted from a school's collection. All too often on "the auction service" you will see such instruments, and many of those in the paper around here are of a similar provenance.
When the case is stenciled "Property of Yazoo City Schools", it's a giveaway. We once were shown a bassoon that still had the property tag glued to it, this out of the back of a car ("We'll meet you and show it to you then!"). Not too subtle.
(We called the district in question on this one, and the horn had been stolen. One hopes that the police were successful, for we did give them the telephone number and address that was in the ad.)
When purchasing something that is ID'ed as school property, I always look for an auction receipt (which some will actually have, anticipating this problem in advance). No need to encourage folks to take more from the cash-strapped school systems than they already do...
leader of Houston's Sounds Of The South Dance Orchestra
info@sotsdo.com
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Author: David Spiegelthal ★2017
Date: 2007-01-10 14:55
Terry's absolutely right. A good friend of mine bought a Leblanc straight contrabass on The Internet Auction Site Whose Name Shall Not Be Mentioned (TIASWNSNBM) from a seller in California; then a few days after receiving it got a call from the California District Attorney's office notifying him that the instrument had been stolen from a high school and would he be kind enough to return it?
It ended OK for my friend, at least -- he was fully reimbursed by the State of California, and ended up buying another similar contra (this one legitimate!) which is a fine instrument and which I've been privileged to borrow and play a couple of times.
That said, many of my instruments have come from legitimate sellers with school or school district names painted on the cases, and I'm reasonably confident these were purchased legitimately (as the majority were in pretty sad shape, and likely had been deemed unrepairable by the schools).
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Author: Terry Stibal
Date: 2007-01-10 19:22
The school auctions are great places to haunt when looking for the "inconvenient" instruments (harmony clarinets, big saxophones, bassoons) and the like. Since the general population doesn't normally buy them (and what does that say about those of us who own four bass clarinets, a baritone sax and a bassoon?), the schools do, and with taxpayers footing the bill they are not ashamed to think that it's about time for a new instrument.
If you watch the notices, and bid carefully, you can get a lot of good stuff from the auctions. The only trouble is you have to wait through six hours worth of auctioning off old desks, old map stands, mountains of obsolete computers, and worn out gym equipment in order to get to the horns...
leader of Houston's Sounds Of The South Dance Orchestra
info@sotsdo.com
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Author: Lelia Loban ★2017
Date: 2007-01-11 12:10
It's true that a school stamp doesn't necessarily mean an instrument is stolen, although school stamps that look recent always set off my alarm bells. The school auctions are indeed good sources for people who know enough about the instruments and repair costs to evaluate the condition realistically. The auctions can be very bad deals indeed for people with little experience.
A friend told me about a flea market where she saw a vintage bass clarinet with not only a broken mouthpiece but, would you believe, five keys *and the neck* missing! She said there was also a lot of "miscellaneous stuff" in the case: trumpet mouthpieces, etc.. The dealer, who specialized in another area entirely, simply had no idea of what a bass clarinet should look like. The school stamp didn't indicate theft; it probably indicated that a band director on a tight budget, who knew something about repair work, had kept this wreck around in order to cannibalize it for parts over the years. (At the right price, I might have bought it myself, and I certainly would have investigated the "miscellaneous stuff" for treasures, if I'd seen that sale first, but....)
Sometimes schools will clean out their closets of instruments that have sat around unplayed for decades. Sometimes a school gives up on more recent instruments misused until they look old and battered, especially if there's serious damage (broken key, chipped mouthpiece, etc.) and if an expensive repair, including a complete overhaul, would involve shipping the instrument out of town and waiting a long time to get it back. (As an amateur, I could wait more than a year for the work on my bass sax, badly damaged when the elderly previous owner dropped it, but that might not be a reasonable timetable for a school.)
By the way, one cautionary note about metal paperclip Leblanc contras: not for short people with very small hands. When I tried out a friend's metal paperclip contra-alto, I found that I couldn't reach all of the keys. I never expected this problem (given the fact that I can reach the keys on my bass sax, although I do have to ignore the thumb rest, rely on a harness and support stand and move my right hand all the way around to the front of the stack) and I might have made the mistake of buying a paperclip Leblanc sight unseen, given the excellent reputation, if I hadn't had this chance to try one first. The obstacle wasn't just the length of my fingers, but the short fingers combined with the short arms. You have to stretch out quite a bit more for the paperclip contra than for a conventional design. (I can't play the trombone, either, for the same reason--probably just as well....) I bought a Bundy contra-alto from the 1980s and I've been delighted with it. The big Bundies from the 1980s deserve a better reputation, methinks.
Lelia
http://www.scoreexchange.com/profiles/Lelia_Loban
To hear the audio, click on the "Scorch Plug-In" box above the score.
Post Edited (2007-01-11 12:20)
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Author: diz
Date: 2007-01-11 23:39
Lelia - what a fascinating response on the perspective of small dimensioned folk and probelms with actually reaching bits and pieces ... I'd never give this any thought (I'm 6'1" and have fairly long fingers).
Without music, the world would be grey, very grey.
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Author: CJB
Date: 2007-01-12 12:56
I can vouch for Leila's experience as well. The only contra experience I've had was with a paperclip contrabass in appauling condition. I'm 5'6'' but have very small hands. I could reach the keys but couldn't get a right hand position that wasn't painful. This particular instrument had a very flexible spike that wasn't very secure. I had great difficulty coping with the high centre of gravity on a less than stable spike.
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Author: Ken Shaw ★2017
Date: 2007-01-12 15:16
If you sit well back in a chair with a long seat, you can adjust the peg on a Leblac paperclip contra to extend just past the bottom loop and rest the peg between your legs on the chair seat. It works fine unless you gain too much weight.
Ken Shaw
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Author: BassetHorn
Date: 2007-01-12 17:28
In my personal opinion, having played both the paperclip and straight-body Leblanc contras, the most comfortable one to play is the straight body Eb contrabass, model 352. Shaped and feels like a low C bass clarinet, good centre of gravity, great ergonomics, and the 2 piece body makes for easy cleaning and handling. In comparison, playing the big and tall 350 generally requires sitting on a stool, or playing it standing requires tons of confidence in the peg. And the paperclip 340 and 342 are unwielding due to their high centre of gravity and use of long pegs that might give out. If I were to recommend a first time contra player, the Eb contrabass 352 is on the top of my list for its advantages of cost, playability, and wider utility.
Post Edited (2007-01-12 17:30)
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