Author: coguy5280
Date: 2007-06-29 13:42
I was searching the web for Robin Driscoll's Opus One site, and I stumbled upon this bboard and this particular subject. I feel compelled to write in because it's very appropriate to me today: I'm flying to San Antonio to have Mark Ackerman work on one of my Jeanne machines that has never produced a useable result for me. I bought two of her machines, one almost three years ago and one almost two years ago, in an effort to get away from the center-set gouges on the market (i.e., Gilbert, Ross) and, to this day, I am still trying to get both of them to work well (reading between the lines, I'm pretty certain that the post about the Jeanne machine with "David [Matthews] in Dallas" is my other one).
My experience has been the following: upon receipt, both machines produced reeds with excellent tones that are indicative of the beautiful darkness and roundness of the Mack/Cleveland school, which is what I was looking for. Using a narrow shape, I liked the tone achieved from the curve of the gouger blade. The flip side, however, is that, while the reeds sounded terrific, they didn't function properly. By properly I mean that they didn't vibrate at all (it felt like every reed had a strong clamp on the vibrations) and, in addition, they were flat in pitch. As a result, there was nothing that could be done scraping-wise to make the reeds function better: if you scraped off more cane to attempt better vibration overall, the reed went even flatter in pitch than it already was; if you clipped it to raise the pitch to a stable level, then it didn't respond at all. Both machines I received gave this result.
When I called with the first machine to ask why I was getting this result, I was basically told I didn't know anything and that I needed to try different shapes and cane to make it work. I was also told to move the bed around to get a different result. I bought her shape and used different diameters of cane, being careful to select pieces that were both flat on the bottom and straight on the sides. I still didn't get reeds that worked. I tried moving the bed by following the instructions included with the machine and messed it up. When I had the machine looked at by two different gouger experts, their reaction was the same as what wrowand has posted (at least, regarding my particular machine): some nice design elements (ball-bearing carriage) but also sloppy craftmanship: both the parallel bars and the base were not true (i.e., flat and level). While the bars had had shims put underneath them, they weren't glued or adhered strongly, so they fell out when the bars were moved.
In trying to learn more about gouging machines in general, I've asked colleagues and friends about their experiences with this machine and other machines. Surprisingly (or not?), I've found at least three have had carbon-copy experiences to me with the Jeanne: gouges which yield darkly-toned reeds but are unuseable in a functional sense since they're both flat and don't vibrate. I recently talked to a relatively new Principal Oboist in a North American symphony orchestra [not Atlanta's Elizabeth Koch] about the Ferrillo gouger/seminar, and, when I asked her if she'd used the Jeanne machine at all, she said what I've already relayed: she loved the sound but neither of her two machines produced useable reeds in a vibrating sense. She had sent at least one of them off to have someone else try to make them work, but she is currently not using either one.
Of course, to temper this, I offer the following: while I currently hold a performing position in an orchestra and have thankfully won five auditions, I am not at all, and probably never will be, a gouging expert; my brain just isn't wired that way. I'm certain that part of the problem I had with this machine initially was the fact that it was my first use of a Graf-style machine (many moveable parts that need understanding and knowledge about their function/use). Other posters to this bboard, such as wrowand, doublereeder2, and cjwright, have been able to use their machines just fine (btw, cjwright's comment about French and American bladecurves is a good one for you to consider since you're not in the US).
Thanks for reading, and I wish you the best if you decide to try this machine. It hasn't been a good experience for me personally, but I'm merely one of many who've purchased/used this machine and it may just be the perfect choice for you. I'm hoping that Mark Ackerman will be able to get my machine functioning well so I can post an addendum about how much I love my Jeanne machine.
Post Edited (2007-06-29 14:09)
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