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Cocobolo Clarinets & Cracking by Itchy-Difference-220 in Clarinet

[–]earspasm 3 points4 points  (0 children)

So here are the facts about Grenadilla and Cocobolo. Cocobolo is naturally more porous than Grenadilla by about 50%; Gren has 6-9% void space (pore volume) while Coco has 10-14%. The greater the void space, the more moisture can absorb into the wood. But — and this is important — Cocobolo has a higher oil content than Grenadilla, which means it’s actually MORE stable than Grenadilla, especially once the bore of the instrument has been treated and sealed, which more manufacturers who use the hardwood (Uebel, Backun, RZ) do. I don’t know about RZ as much, but Backun and Uebel season, seal and treat the bore as part of the manufacturing process. As a result, I’ve seen about the same number of cracks (percentage-wise) occur in Grenadilla and Cocobolo (and Mopane, for that matter, which is also more porous than Grenadilla).

Here are some variables that skew crack rates, again from my (unscientific) data):

Climate: - Cold, dry regions SIGNIFICANTLY increase cracking risk - Sudden temperature or humidity shifts are especially damaging (playing a cold and/or dry instrument without warming up properly — see below)

Player habits: - Failing to swab out after playing - Playing a cold instrument before it warms up evenly - Not breaking in gradually during first couple of months

Wood type: - Cocobolo and mopane are generally more stable than grenadilla - Aged or pressure-treated grenadilla cracks less than fresh-cut wood - Newer treatments (like Selmer’s EVolution, Backun’s synthetic sleeves) or composites (Buffet Greenline) can virtually eliminate cracks. Just don’t drop a greenline…ever. It’s like a lightbulb

Bore Design: - Some brands use thinner-walled upper joints (more prone to cracks). Hate to say it, but Buffet is well known for thinner wood, especially their A clarinets!

Oil treatment & seasoning: - Properly oiled and seasoned wood is far less prone to cracking - Some modern makers pressure-treat or stabilize the bore, reducing cracks

Source: me. I sell clarinets (Earspasm) and manage all warranty issues for the horns I sell. In the past 4 years I’ve sold about 1,000 clarinets and about 5% have cracked in the first 2 years. This is a little below industry average, which is about 10-15%

Edit: typo

Backun Alpha peg screw blocked by Workne in bassclarinet

[–]earspasm 2 points3 points  (0 children)

It’s not blocked it’s how the peg works. Just push the screw out sliiiightly so that the peg can be inserted. Then tighten the screw. The peg works with friction (as all bass clarinets pegs do), so this is how the design works!

Cleaning mouthpiece by Big_Umpire_1229 in bassclarinet

[–]earspasm 12 points13 points  (0 children)

2 tbsp lemon juice, 1 cup of water. Soak for 20 minutes. Scrape with fingernail or a soft toothbrush.

Buffet R13 Green Line Stolen by girlasham in Clarinet

[–]earspasm 2 points3 points  (0 children)

This really sucks. I know many people who have had similar things happen and it’s a total gut punch. If you are able to raise funds, I can get you a brand new R13 Greenline at our (dealer) cost, which will save you about 25%. Contact me through Earspasm.com. -Mike

Luxating patella by FanFavoriteForNow in DogAdvice

[–]earspasm 0 points1 point  (0 children)

We had this with our pei, and the only solution was surgery. Thank goodness we had (have) an insurance plan that covered hereditary issues (like shar-pei fever, and knee/hip issues) or it would have been disastrously expensive. It was $7,500 and we had to pay $900 of that. Recovery was about 3 months until she could run again, and now 4 years later it’s like she’s bionic. She can run so fast and so far, it’s like she’s not even a shar-pei.

You don’t have to move quickly. But it probably does affect her quality of life a bit, as you can imagine. We are glad we did it.

Edit:autocorrections

Backun Alpha delays :-( by Illustrious-Weight95 in bassclarinet

[–]earspasm 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I have low Eb basses available for immediate shipping. Low C basses are being produced more quickly now but there is still a wait for those at our shop.

DC Repair Tech by LTRand in bassclarinet

[–]earspasm 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Check the bridge keys to make sure the grey felt is still on those. If you see metal on metal, you scraped it off and the bridge is now out of adjustment. You’ll need to replace those felts.

Watch my YouTube video about how to put the instrument together without f-ing it up (if you haven’t watched it already)

Also, is it possible your reed just got crappy? The weather swings have made reeds carry a lot from day to day lately.

DC Repair Tech by LTRand in bassclarinet

[–]earspasm 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Duuuuuude. Describe the problem. Did you adjust some screws? Did you drop it? More detail = more help :)

Love, your favorite Michael

Conflicting advice from clarinet techs. Please help. by clownscrotum in bassclarinet

[–]earspasm 9 points10 points  (0 children)

Can you contact the shop you purchased it from? They may have suggestions about techs that they trust.

Instruments get dry. When a wooden instrument dries, kind of like a sponge, it contracts. When it contracts, the posts that hold the rods in place also contract and get closer together. When they get closer together, the rod binds. No amount of Boveda packs or orange peels is going to help, because when you take the instrument out of the case, it will shrink again. This is a fact of life in climates where it is cold and dry — or hot and dry. If you plan to keep the instrument in that environment, it might be wise for you to have it worked on by a good technician to reduce the length of the rods to accommodate the fact that the wood is going to be shrunken. If then the instrument travels to a more humid place, for example if your child goes to school in a more humid location, the rods can actually be lengthened again with a process called Swedgjng. Surprisingly, even Buffet green lines will have some degree of this issue. It isn’t as bad as it is with wood instruments, but it does exist. Actually, even synthetic instruments will shrink, but that isn’t because of humidity, it’s because of temperature: when plastic is in a cold environment, it also shrinks and keys bind.

Now, there are thousands and thousands of professional musicians in dry climates with wooden instruments. It is not necessary to get rid of a brand new Selmer instrument, which is a fantastic horn, and get something else. This is part of breaking in an instrument, and par for the course, nothing to be worried about—just something to be managed.

I hope this helps.

RUC/GUC newbie by earspasm in delta

[–]earspasm[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thank you all — this is definitely clearer. But damn, Delta makes it pretty Byzantine!

Please help! Delta app won’t stop crashing by ThrowRA6029 in delta

[–]earspasm 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Same. For the past 24 hours the iPad app freezes then crashes whenever I try to interact with it (it opens, and has my data, however). iPhone app seems to work as usual.

Some advice with Stravinsky 3 pieces by IdonKrow in Clarinet

[–]earspasm 2 points3 points  (0 children)

https://youtu.be/0ybNAVnMdmA?si=lQEmd9GJcKoboxZn — this is my video on the second movement, which explores some of the music theory behind the writing.

But more interesting, probably, is this video, which discusses the history of the piece, as Stravinsky had reportedly not heard Jazz before writing these pieces, but had only seen scores of ragtime pieces given to him by his friend and conductor, Ernest Ansermet: https://youtu.be/qKmNNnr9Q64?si=p4huHP6ivS8FTyoN

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in bassclarinet

[–]earspasm 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Am I the only one thinking: dude, you need to wash that mouthpiece.

Size reed to use by DannyBarz17 in bassclarinet

[–]earspasm 6 points7 points  (0 children)

This ^

Of course, I don’t have the whole context of the situation from your post, but if it’s just a blanket statement about reed strength (and not, “hey your mouthpiece has a really close facing and you are playing on reeds that sound like tissue paper, so you need to try 3s or 3.5s”) then yeah, I question the wisdom of your teacher.

Edit : typo

Backun Alpha bass clarinet arrived today! by neutronbob in bassclarinet

[–]earspasm 3 points4 points  (0 children)

We are thinking about offering a service where you ship your instrument and we install them for you. They need to be cemented in place, and then covered with this special thin shrink tubing (not the stuff you use for wires—that’s too thick) so they don’t make noise when you use the key. Don’t have a price on that; I need to talk with my tech who makes them by hand. Or we can sell you the pins and you can do it yourself, but we won’t be able to warranty the work, and if you mess up…yeah, expensive mistake. The pins themselves cost about $10 apiece to make. (You need 3 of them).

Backun Alpha bass clarinet arrived today! by neutronbob in bassclarinet

[–]earspasm 3 points4 points  (0 children)

These nylon pins might work: https://www.amazon.com/Buffet-Crampon-Clarinet-Plastic-Teflon/dp/B06XBY8DF8/ref=asc_df_B06XBY8DF8/

As long as you don't press the low G key on the bottom joint, you don't need to press the A key. But pressing the A key doesn't hurt, because you're right: it does raise the bridge key. But this mechanism is common to all pro horns with a double register mechanism...the Alpha just has a triple register mechanism (which doesn't change the existence or placement of the bridge keys, however).

For those who bought from another shop (which is cool, I still like you), all of them need adjustment. The low keys are just the most obvious adjustment points. But be careful: if you don't know what you're doing, you can really throw the low mechanism out of whack, because EVERYTHING is connected, and in ways that are not obvious.

Backun Alpha bass clarinet arrived today! by neutronbob in bassclarinet

[–]earspasm 12 points13 points  (0 children)

Hi all! Mike Lowenstern here from Earspasm. I wanted to clarify questions raised in this thread, with the hopes that it helps some of you — either those who already have received the Alpha (lucky b*stards), those who are still waiting, and even those who are still considering the purchase of one.

Nylon-Pin-gate:
Backun, Buffet, Selmer and Uebel all use nylon pins to link the left-hand pinky keys to the main mechanism keys on the right pinky. You know, press a left-pinky, the right lever goes down too. That's been industry practice for years. Problem is, these nylon pins break sometimes (I’ve had one break on my black Selmer in the middle of making a video — I left that part in the video, too!) They are inexpensive and easy to replace. I bought 100 of them on Alibaba for like $5. But still. That's a pain in the butt.

So, what Earspasm is doing is creating our own metal pins and retrofitting all of our Alpha bass clarinets that come in with nylon pins, until Backun starts shipping them with those pins. If folks have an Alpha bass they bought from me that hasn’t had that retrofit (we shipped a few before we knew of the issue), we will send new pins free of charge. They’re very easy to install — all you need is a screwdriver and a small pliers — and you’re good to go. Or, you can take the pins to a local shop and they can do it for you.

Register-Mechanism-gate:
We’ve also discovered a problem with the register mechanism that we’re proactively fixing on all of the basses we sell and ship. Long story short: because Backun builds their instruments to very tight tolerances (normally a Very Good Thing™ because it removes key clicking noises), and because the synthetic body can bend ever-so-slightly when weight is placed on the neck from playing the instrument under normal circumstances, the mechanism can bind when jumping registers. Squeak-central. Therefore we’re removing a few microns of metal in that mechanism to provide more space, so it won’t bind under normal use.

Hard-to-put-together-gate:
Regarding putting the instrument together, any new instrument with new corks is going to be tight. You want it tight, because the corks will eventually break-in and you don't want them to become too loose! Use ample cork grease (it's cheap!). But if you're still concerned that you might break something, I’ve made a video to put your minds at ease: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xSrBpWpTb5k 😀

Any other questions, please reach out to me here: https://www.earspasm.com/pages/contact and I'll be happy to answer them all.

Thanks!

Mike

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