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Re: Ringed barrel vs no rings

Author: Dan Shusta
Date: 2019-09-30 04:04

Hi Paul,

Concerning "ringless" vs "ringed" barrels, Wesley Rice says: "Barrels with no tenon rings are more susceptible to cracking because there is nothing besides the wood to absorb the pressure." https://www.clarinet-repairs.com/repairs.html (Scroll down to Binding Tenons.) (Also, please note that Wesley manufactures "ringless" Grenadilla barrels. Although it appears that a contradiction is evident, IMO, it seems to me that the acclaimed positives of an "aftermarket" ringless barrel outweighs the risk of it cracking.)

It also appears that Wesley disagrees with your last sentence: "the manufacturers barrel tends to be one of the better choices every time......for good reason."

Per Wesley Rice on the page entitled: "Why Replace your Stock Clarinet Barrel?" Wesley states that "... replacing your clarinet barrel with an aftermarket one can greatly improve the playability of your instrument." Wesley continues with "Even if the stock barrel is brand new and not "blown-out", there are many things that will be lacking because of its inferior design" and then he continues with "Sharp upper notes and flat lower notes are a problem on almost every clarinet with a stock barrel, and so the Wesley Rice Clarinet Barrels were designed to bring down the pitch of the upper register notes, while bringing up the pitch of the lower notes. Also, if the notes are plotted on a graph, the curve is much smoother with the Wesley Rice Clarinet Barrel, as most stock barrels produce erratic tuning results."

Everything in the above paragraph can be found at https://www.clarinet-repairs.com/articles/whyreplace.html

p.s. Clark W Fobes states that his barrels "are designed to work in conjunction with FOBES mouthpieces and the his "ringless" barrels give "better resonance and warmth." https://www.clarkwfobes.com/collections/barrels/products/fobes-bb-clarinet-barrel-1?variant=6317060357

Brad Behn states that his hard rubber "ringless" barrels are "far more reliable than wood" (because the dimensions would never change), increase response, improve pitch, enhance resonance, and that his EVO barrels are designed to give what he calls "auto-focus). https://www.clarinetmouthpiece.com/evo-rubber-clarinet-barrels

From all of my readings, it appears to me that after market barrels are indeed better than stock barrels and that the ring on wooden barrels can increase the barrel material stability against cracks and can add resonance and warmth (per Clark W Fobes.)

Post Edited (2019-09-30 05:03)

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