Author: TCB91
Date: 2014-02-27 22:32
I have been playing for over 25 years on a Yamaha 72 Bb and have always wanted an Eb to play with. When my oldest asked for one to play in band I saw an opportunity . We just received the Yamaha 881 and it's the first time that I have been less than thrilled with a Yamaha clarinet right out of the case. Since we are a household of clarinetists we have 2 - 72's, a 650, and a fairly new CSV (in addition to 2 Selmers).
Right off the 881 was playing a quarter of a pitch flat on all notes below the throat tones, right in tune over the break, then it went a bit sharp at high C and up. I can deal with the sharpness on the high notes, but fixing flat is a problem. I have never had a "break-in" period with any of my other clarinets, so I wouldn't think that would be an issue here. Has anyone had any experience with this?
I have tried the stock Yamaha 4C mouthpiece that came with it, a Vandoren B44, and a Richard Hawkins. Overall the Yamaha and Vandoren give the most consistent playing sound. The Hawkins actually has an overly bright sound to it (sounds great on the borrowed Buffet R13, but doesn't blend on the Yamaha), but none of the mouthpieces change the pitch. I have tried Vandoren Eb reeds, Vandoren Bb reeds (regular, V12, Rue 56's, and white masters) with no change in the pitch issue.
The barrel comes standard at 42mm. I tried to order a Scott 41mm barrel today but it was out of stock. They have a 40mm, but I'm afraid that would be too short. I also don't want to shorten the barrel to have the lower register come in tune to just have the upper register uncomfortably sharp.
A Fobes extension was suggested to me, but I didn't think that was necessarily used to tune the lower register; I can't really see what it would do for thumb F down through C or even B.
If anyone has any experience with this or suggestions I would really appreciate it. The Yamaha has an amazing sound and I don't want to have to send it back, but I don't want to fight with it either. I was told when we purchased it that it was the only one in stock and the wait would be long for another one.
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The Clarinet BBoard
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