h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

They are solid and reliable. I did try out a pair or rosewood, handmade Chilian one-piece instruents on friday. And they were beautiful. But I spoke to my (old) techer, who said that although they may be nice, and he knows exactly why I'd be attracted to them, at my time of life I don't need then, really. which is absolutely true.

.. I know that physicists maintain that the accoustics of different sorts of wood should make no difference whatsoever to the sound of an instrument, but rosewood clarinets are something else. The rare rosewood clarinet I have sounds simply beautiful (if you can get a sound out of it; the mouthpiece was trashed even before I got it), which is one of the reasons I really want it overhauled, because it'll make an amazing playing instrument.

*nod*.. I think there's more to R13s than that, though. If played well, well maintained, and used with the right mouthpiece and reeds, they really do make a beautiful sound. They're quite conservative instruments as far as the clarinet goes, but that's a good thing as far as I'm concerned.

I wouldn't know about conservative- I think that they can be as versatile as the next clarinet! You can play softly, harshly, forcefuly, glissando silly amounts yet play on a whisper. But then, you can proabably do that on any clarinet if you know how, I supose. I'm sure the rosewood made a difference. Even on a less than ideal setup they made a softer tone than my R13's. But then the workmanship on those was perfect. Worth the £3500 they were priced at and more! I'm not going to get them though.

You can, yes.. but certain instruments have tones that suit certain sorts of playing; in this manner, you'll find modern instruments (for example, a LeBlanc Opus) far more conducive to a more modern style of playing (louder, quite simply) than an older instrument (the R13, being fundamentally the same as the first day it was produced, is far more conducive to a slightly more traditional style of playing, more akin to what would have been in vogue at the time your teacher's instruments were being manufactured; ie. more sensitive and with a little more expression).

How much did you pay for your R13s, and how old are they?

I'm not sure how old- not older than 10, I'd say, but more than five. I can't remember how much I paid- about £800 for the A, and about £50 for the Bb, because of the crack. I have since showed it to a repairman here, who decided that is was so small and well finished that it was almost not worth mentioning it if i decided to sell them. I would, of couse, but not drop the price. It's almost a good thing- the wood has had a chance to move but has not wrecked anything.

3500 for the Bb, even

£500. Crickey, what's up with my typing tonight!!

not bad. .. mine were originally selling for £2000, and I was intending to try and talk a few hundred off that, but having played the instruments, they were (are) in such good condition that they were easily worth that much; they're 20 years old, and the keywork's pristine(!). They've either been very very lovingly taken care of, or serviced with alarming regularity, and had the keywork carefully cleaned after each play. So £2000 is what I paid.

btw.. as an afterthought.. what serial number do they have? you can get the age to within 6 months using that.. *looks up the appropriate website*

Fair play. Mine ween't in bad condition, but i do strip them down and clean them properly once in a while (not too often), just to make sure that all is in well. Still need to replace a piece of cork that's fallen off my lower joint banana key. Or trill key, or what ever you call the little key in between the second and third rings.

http://www.musictrader.com/buffet.html

I might ask. I have asked B&H once before, and they gave me dates for a pair I was looking at. But that was for B&H, not Buffet. Though are they joined up now or something?

Wow! What a great page!

*nod*.. I do that after about every 50 or so hours of playing, which works out to a week or two on tour, or - alternatively - a month or so of normal use (considerably more, at the moment, but before I start playing again more regularly, I will give them a thorough look over, recentre the pads, clean everything up, and make sure all of the springs are nicely balanced)

The only thing I couldn't do is reseat pads. I know *how* to, but i don't think I ought to fiddle too much. Besides, I rarely have probems with leaks.

.. I've got slightly protective about my pads. I've found that even tiny tiny leaks that you don't notice still make the instrument feel constricted (even if there's little appreciable sound difference), so I tend to be very perfectionistic about the state of my instruments. (case in point: whenever I get one repaired, the first thing I do is test all of the pads and give the instrument a thorough inspection)..

Fair play. I'll learn to be better at spotting things, but i've only recently been interested in learning how to do things. My teacher was worried when I brought my A to check over bacuse I'd just taken it apart and wanted him to check it over! Such is the perils of curiosity... but then, how else can you learn?

.. taking things apart is how I learnt to fix them again. Works with clarinets and computers, I can tell you that much. .. (and I've never broken anything yet. Just skin with pointy spring ends - those things are vicious)

Oh tell me about it- I have drawn blood on more than one occasion- thankfull it didn't stop me being able to finish the job. I'm thinking of writing an entry on how do dis and re assemble aclarinet. Do you think it's a good idea?

hmm. *thinks*.. it's both a nice - and dangerous - idea. I can imagine a forum full of people with broken B12s now. .. however, I can also envisage that it'd be a very useful resource. (especially if, somehow, you managed to get diagrams onto it..)

Were you thinking more of a step by step guide, or a general overview of how the architecture of the keywork works, enabling someone to understand generally how different bits and pieces work?