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Re: Register/speaker tubes

Author: fskelley
Date: 2014-11-02 08:27
Attachment: DSCs-02532.JPG (135k)

Back to my original question 1) Would you expect a longer register/speaker tube to lower the pitch of throat Bb? If so, what other effects might it have?

I asked this because I had a new clarinet (represented as being a "2nd" with intonation issues) with a painfully sharp throat Bb, bad enough to render the horn unplayable to me. And I had noted that the projection of the register tube into the bore appeared less than in my good Arioso, though I had no good way of measuring without removing it. And I wondered whether that was a manufacturing error, and responsible for the tuning problem. So I asked seller to send me a longer tube if he had one. Meanwhile I posted here to see what others thought- and I was not encouraged by the discussion.

Today the new register tube arrived. See photo with old and new. Old one is 12mm, new one I didn't measure before installing- I'd guess it's 13 or 14mm.

And the problem is gone! I am a happy happy camper. Whatever intonation issues may remain are low enough level for me just not to care, for now anyway.

I'm not sure what other kinds of situations this "solution" might fix, but I put it out there as a data point.

1) If you ever encounter a clarinet with throat Bb off pitch (who knows how it got that way- don't necessarily blame the original manufacturer)- installing a different length tube may well fix it, and

2) If you modify the register tube on any clarinet, you may introduce a pitch problem in throat Bb unless you are careful to maintain the same length. And I bet the size and shape of the hole in the tube has some effect on it also.

Stan in Orlando

EWI 4000S with modifications

Post Edited (2014-11-03 23:17)

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Longer register tube corrects sharp throat Bb new

fskelley

2014-10-28 06:43