Author: RobinDesHautbois
Date: 2011-07-22 15:01
Q1. your guess is as good as mine...
Q2. you don't, not until you scrape it.
Check-out my blog for full reasoning here (and the following post):
http://robindeshautbois.blogspot.com/2011/03/pre-gouging-and-tooth-yanking.html
Actually, there is one criteria that can allow you to quickly spot bad cane: very grainy bark is a sign of very open "veins" that more than likely dried out: soft-dry cane that probably breaks in a puff of dust.
Most important, in my view, is flatness (from end-to-end): cane that allows as many flat pieces as possible.
But for colour, the bark is very misleading. You have to scrape a little and see the colour of the cane about 0.3mm underneath. Any sign of shimmering means it is likely too young. Orange bark can hide pale cane, pale bark can hide a very orange cane (often liked best). Many brown streaks are often a good sign, but that is not a dependable clue.
As a rule of thumb, if you can find a provider of OLD CANE, that is best because using young cane is wasting money.... you really need to let it age several years. My best cane was bought in 1994, and I know others kept their cane even much longer than that! In my experience, with old cane, hardness factors matter less.
Robin Tropper
M.A.Sc., B.Mus., B.Ed.
http://RobinDesHautbois.blogspot.ca/music
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