 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: MKilpatrick
Date: 2020-06-07 18:15
Does anyone know where I can get hold of an old Selmer Improved Albert System clarinet - those with the three-in-a-row pads for the lower notes?
After a long time struggling, I've concluded that I can't play a Boehm clarinet well enough. My little fingers cause too much interference [*] to my ring fingers and I would very much like to experiment with an Albert clarinet with fewer and larger pinky keys in both ands,
[*] Perhaps there may be some experts on hand tendon configurations here? Humans have variable configurations of tendons in the hands which means that certain people can do some independent finger movements better than others but do others worse. I've examined this closely with our eldest son's fingers (he is learning the clarinet) and observed how his right hand ring finger does not twitch at all in sympathy with his little finger, whereas mine does. This doesn't affect saxophone playing at all but it makes clarinet playing difficult for me.
Michael
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Author: Fuzzy
Date: 2020-06-07 20:38
Those specific clarinets can be difficult to find. Many pro jazz players like them, and buy them when they can.
One player had his stolen and it took him almost a year to find a replacement. They do come up from time to time, but you might have to watch for quite a while.
Fuzzy
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Author: Tony F
Date: 2020-06-07 21:31
There are a number of businesses that buy and sell clarinets, such as "Clarinets Direct" in the UK. Businesses like this handle large quantities of instruments and are more likely to come across what you neeed than you on your own. Try contacting such businesses and have them look out for one for you. I've dealt with Clarinets Direct and they are good people to work with.
Tony F.
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Author: Fuzzy
Date: 2020-06-07 22:18
Thanks to Tony F's recommendation, I was reminded of these two resources:
http://www.wichitaband.com/used.html
https://www.facebook.com/TheVintageClarinetDoctor
I've never bought from either of these folks, but I did correspond with wichitaband in the past when I was looking for an item. I ended up finding the item on ebay prior to one showing up at wichitaband though.
So, I can't vouch for the quality of restorations, etc., but I do see some really nice instruments go through the "sell" pages from time to time.
Fuzzy
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