 The Clarinet BBoard
|
Author: HP
Date: 2025-05-30 03:08
Do you think it would be possible to mod my Selmer CT Bb clarinet so it has covered tone holes? And how much do you think this modification would cost?
I love the sound of this clarinet, but since I have rather skinny fingers it squeaks quite often when one of the tone holes is not fully covered.
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Chris P
Date: 2025-05-30 03:21
It will be an expensive job due to the amount of keywork that will need to be made, as well as adding extra pillars and reshaping the chimneys to form bedplaces on them and countersinking the LH3 tonehole, plus some modifications to other keys to raise their touchpiece heights for much easier reach.
If you're only leaking off LH3 and RH3, you can have fingerplates fitted to just those toneholes as that will be far less costly than converting the main action to fully covered/plateaux action. And with CTs, those two toneholes are far larger in diameter than you'll find on many other clarinets which only exacerbates the issue.
Not that long ago I found an old Sterling (made by Selmer) plateaux action clarinet which I rebuilt and was snapped up immediately by a lady with arthritis who was struggling playing her early CT (which she also bought off me around 15 years back). While the older Sterling didn't have the same sound as her CT, she found it far easier from the outset and hasn't had any grief since then.
Former oboe finisher
Howarth of London
1998 - 2010
The opinions I express are my own.
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: dora88flora
Date: 2025-05-30 10:36
Modifying your Selmer CT Bb clarinet to have covered tone holes is technically possible but would be a significant and expensive undertaking, likely costing several hundred to over a thousand US dollars due to custom keywork fabrication and extensive labor by a skilled luthier. While it could cat language translator address your squeaking issue from skinny fingers, it's crucial to weigh the cost against the instrument's value and potential acoustic impact. A more practical first step is consulting a reputable woodwind repair specialist for a precise assessment and quote, and consider if a new instrument designed with covered tone holes might be a more economical alternative.
Post Edited (2025-05-31 14:09)
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: m1964
Date: 2025-05-30 23:22
I see plateau clarinets popping up on eBay once in a while. Most were student-level models like Normandy or Malern. Today, I see there a Vito plastic plateau and a Normandy 10 for a (crazy to me) price of $2000!
Uebel makes a very nice plateau clarinet (on expensive side) and RZ makes a student-level plateau.
My understanding is that CT and Series 9 had large tone holes, and later Selmers had smaller ones. Of course, there are other makers.
I would contact a reputable clarinet shop with wide makers selection. The owner most likely would be able to give you a good advice.
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: SecondTry
Date: 2025-05-31 03:58
I have a friend for many years I met thru clarinet playing.
Unfortunately, over the years, arthritis has bent her fingers such that it is an ever more difficult process for her to cover the tone holes of her non-plateau R13 such that we've discussed "plateuing" the instrument with Denmark's Lohff & Pfeiffer, who has a boutique business effecting such changes.
You might find this thread below interesting as it features a top line new Plateau clarinet being played, including with glissando formed via embouchure, rather the pulling away fingers from open tone holes, as is commonly done on non-plateau clarinets to achieve this effect.
http://test.woodwind.org/clarinet/BBoard/read.html?f=1&i=504122&t=504114
All this said, I'm curious just how much your thin fingers truly represent a congenital or developed impediment to play, like my friend's arthritis, and how much of this (and I don't know, I'm asking, so I don't mean to be offensive) plateau interest represents an easier route to achievement than practice.
You may very well have completely anthropomorphic reasons to desire this type of instrument, and again, I do not mean to offend.
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Tony F
Date: 2025-05-31 18:53
In the UK Hanson make plateau clarinets intended for both the student-level player and the professional or advanced player. A friend who suffers from arthritis that was affecting her ability to play bought one a year ago. I've examined and played it and I'm impressed with the quality of the instrument. You can get a new one for less than some of the wildly optimistic prices quoted on EBay and it will be a better instrument. They're also, in my experience, good people to deal with.
Tony F.
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: m1964
Date: 2025-06-01 02:22
Hi Tony F.,
In your opinion, how that model (I assume it was a T6 or T5) compared to Buffet models (or Selmer) ?
How was tuning?
Thanks
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: smokindok
Date: 2025-06-01 04:48
SecondTry wrote:
>
> You may very well have completely anthropomorphic reasons to
> desire this type of instrument, and again, I do not mean to
> offend.
My imagination is having fun coming up with “anthropomorphic reasons to desire this type of instrument.” (Much more entertaining than any anatomic reasons.)
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: SecondTry
Date: 2025-06-01 06:12
smokindok wrote:
> SecondTry wrote:
> >
> > You may very well have completely anthropomorphic reasons to
> > desire this type of instrument, and again, I do not mean to
> > offend.
>
> My imagination is having fun coming up with “anthropomorphic
> reasons to desire this type of instrument.” (Much more
> entertaining than any anatomic reasons.)
>
Anthropomorphic measurements are used to assess the human body's size, proportions, and composition, that when they differ too far from what is considered in the statistically normal range, may become anatomical reasons.
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
The Clarinet Pages
|
 |
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
