 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: Ben Shaffer
Date: 2014-03-24 02:40
I'm a new Clarinet Adult Learner
I currently have a plastic Vito Horn.... its not the lightest Instrument in the world. Ive never owned an Ebony or ABW Clarinet , but could I expect one of these to be lighter in weight than the Plastic Vito.... and if so, by enough to make it worthwhile to buy one?
Ive played both Bagpipes and Irish Flute in the past and I can tell you the blackwood versions of these Instruments are lighter than the Plastic or Delrin versions
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Author: Chris P
Date: 2014-03-24 03:03
ABS resin clarinets are lighter than their blackwood (ABW) counterparts.
Earlier Vitos, Bundys, Yamahas and B&H Regents were made from very high density resin (Bakelite) which is considerably heavier than grenadilla. But they all changed to using ABS or similar resin bodies sometime in the '70s I think which are much lighter in density.
The only man made materials clarinets from the big name companies are made from now are ABS resin (Vito, Selmer USA, Buffet B12, Jupiter and Yamaha 250) and ebonite (most Chinese clarinets are made from this - the gaudy coloured ones are made from ABS resin), but some specialist makers also make delrin bodied instruments to order.
Former oboe finisher
Howarth of London
1998 - 2010
The opinions I express are my own.
Post Edited (2014-03-24 05:15)
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Author: tictactux ★2017
Date: 2014-03-24 04:21
...and a considerable part of the weight comes from the keywork. A stripped body is surprisingly light.
--
Ben
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Author: muppie
Date: 2014-03-24 01:14
I have a buffet e12f which is made of grenadilla wood and ridenour libertas made of hard rubber. I weighed them with the barrel but without the mouthpiece. The libertas is 10 grams less.
Post Edited (2014-03-25 00:34)
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Author: Tony F
Date: 2014-03-24 09:35
I own several instruments of which I have a specimen in grenadilla and another in hard rubber. These are B & H Imperials and Emperors. The rubber instruments are quite a bit lighter than their wood counterparts. Personally, I think the rubber instruments sound better. I also have a Bliss in wood and another in plastic. Again, the plastic one sounds better and is considerably lighter.
Tony F.
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Author: donald
Date: 2014-03-24 13:25
I have a plastic Vito that is from the late 1970s... it is way lighter than any wooden clarinet I've ever owned.
dn
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Author: BobD
Date: 2014-03-24 18:11
I did a "Search" on the terminology "abw" and find only 4 citations and all are of recent 2014 vintage. I suggest that using this terminology can result in a lot of confusion among readers. if you want to refer to a wood clarinet just use the word "wood" since some readers can confuse abw with ABS which is a plastic designation.
Bob Draznik
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Author: fskelley
Date: 2014-03-24 14:45
I initially thought ABW was just a mistyping of ABS- W and S are adjacent keys.
Stan in Orlando
EWI 4000S with modifications
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Author: Siq
Date: 2014-03-24 18:52
Muppie, what's the total weight of the clarinets?
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Author: muppie
Date: 2014-03-25 11:21
Buffet E12F without the mouthpiece 725 grams
Ridenour Lyrique Libertas without the mouthpiece 715 grams
This includes the built in thumb rest. I have taken off my thumb pad and anything else that's not really part of the original clarinet before weighing.
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