[Dixielandjazz] Clarinet Tuning

Tue Jun 12 19:12:50 PDT 2007

For alto you may have my dream horn.  I played on a big bell Buescher 400 
alto and was hooked.  Those year ranges on the 400's are the high point of 
saxophone development as far as I can see and are without equal.  I saw my 
dream horn on e-bay from somewhere in the Netherlands a few months ago.  It 
had a 300K serial number and was gold plated.  Buescher made very few of 
them.  It was in 100% playing condition. No dents or scratches.   I had a 
bid in for $2700 which held for about three or four days and in the last 
couple of minutes went up to $3700 and change.  Even at that price a gold 
Buescher 400 alto was a bargain but I didn't have the bucks at that minute.

I think that I may have been bidding against someone with very deep pockets 
who knew what the horn had to offer or was speculating on the resale value 
at some point.  Who ever bought that horn will make money on it.

I have a Buescher Aristocrat from the early 50's and while it's tone is a 
little more focused than a Mark VI it is a great horn.  I had a Mark VI for 
35 years and I compared them over and over but I just couldn't see the extra 
money to buy a Mark VI of my own.  The intonation problems are almost 
identical to the Selmer so there wasn't any preference there.  I think the 
Mark VI had a little more projection but other than that there wasn't any 
other significant difference.  I understand why Selmer wanted to destroy 
Buescher as a brand.

Horns are personal but you have a great set there.
Larry
St. Louis
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "J. D. Bryce" <brycejo at comcast.net>
To: "Larry Walton Entertainment - St. Louis" <larrys.bands at charter.net>
Cc: "Dixieland Jazz Mailing List" <dixielandjazz at ml.islandnet.com>
Sent: Monday, June 11, 2007 6:06 PM
Subject: Re: [Dixielandjazz] Clarinet Tuning

> The choice of instruments is a very personal one.  I'm a Buescher 400 
> freak.
> I play a 1952 400 tenor and a 1949 400 alto.  My son on the other hand,
> doesn't care for  my Bueschers.  He loves his 1964 King Super 20 tenor and
> the Selmer Mark VI alto.
>
> I've favored Brilhart mouthpieces for decades.  Tonalin 6 or 7 on clarinet
> and Brilhart Levelaire 6 or 7 on alto and tenor.  I find that the 
> Levelaires
> don't handle altissimo as well as some other makes, so I make be 
> switching.
>
> Times change and I guess we do too.  But the choice of horn and setup is
> totally personal! Like you guys don't know this!
>
> Jack Bryce
>
>
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: "Larry Walton Entertainment - St. Louis" <larrys.bands at charter.net>
> To: "Jack Bryce" <brycejo at comcast.net>
> Cc: "Dixieland Jazz Mailing List" <dixielandjazz at ml.islandnet.com>
> Sent: Tuesday, June 12, 2007 6:16 PM
> Subject: Re: [Dixielandjazz] Clarinet Tuning
>
>
>> Well mine isn't 100% either but it's manageable.  I forgot to add that I
>> eventually had my Selmer barrel cut down which is a whole lot cheaper 
>> than
> a
>> click barrel and is better for the sound.
>>
>> Instruments like mouthpieces have to fit you.  I have played horns that
>> others rave about and can't see much to them.  That's why I still play on
> a
>> Conn 10 M tenor rather than a Selmer or Custom Yamaha.  I really like
> Yamaha
>> for the most part but I still cling to the Conn and have never replaced
> it.
>> You might very well have played on an instrument and someone else play it
>> differently.  I am convinced that what you do inside of your mouth, 
>> tongue
>> placement and bone structure make a difference as to how a particular 
>> horn
>> plays for you or in some cases don't.
>>
>> I don't think that it's very productive to copy what someone else does
> with
>> mouthpieces etc because it's a combination that works for you.  Horns 
>> play
>> their part too.  I have played several high end clarinets and didn't like
>> them as much as my 10G or my Bundy for that matter.
>>
>> Speaking of my Bundy.  If I didn't have a lot of money I would look up an
>> older Selmer Bundy.  I don't think you can beat one unless you spend a
> whole
>> lot of money.  At least on mine the intonation is pretty good and it has 
>> a
>> whole lot of volume with pretty good tone.  I kind of like the key layout
>> too.
>> Larry
>> St. Louis
>> ----- Original Message ----- 
>> From: "Steve Barbone" <barbonestreet at earthlink.net>
>> To: "Larry Walton" <larrys.bands at charter.net>
>> Cc: "Dixieland Jazz Mailing List" <dixielandjazz at ml.islandnet.com>
>> Sent: Tuesday, June 12, 2007 4:18 PM
>> Subject: [Dixielandjazz] Clarinet Tuning
>>
>>
>> > Larry - <larrys.bands at charter.net> wrote (polite snip)
>> >
>> >> Just a note on my Selmer G10.  When I started playing the instrument I
>> >> noticed that it was flat throughout the range.  I was a little
> surprised
>> >> since I had the original barrel joint and it appeared to be way too
> long.
>> >> I
>> >> tried several things and I remembered I had a Click Barrel that they
> had
>> >> sent me to review when the thing first came out.  It worked shoved all
>> >> the
>> >> way in.  I eventually bought the better Click Barrel and used it for
> some
>> >> time.  The instrument played really well and I had no significant
>> >> intonation
>> >> problems from the short barrel.
>> >
>> > Hey Larry,
>> >
>> > My Selmer 10G was also a little flat, especially in the upper register.
>> > What
>> > I did was go to as Moening barrel 2 mm shorter than the Selmer Barrel
> that
>> > came with the horn. Now the upper register is spot on, though the top
>> > notes
>> > in the lower have become slightly sharp. So I lip them down a bit. 
>> > (from
> D
>> > upwards to Bb) I also think the Moening changed my sound and volume for
>> > the
>> > better, though the classical clarinet mavens think a brand switch on 
>> > the
>> > barrel is akin to heresy.
>> >
>> > Clarinets are funny beasts. I have yet to play a clarinet that is 100%
> in
>> > tune with itself. And I always had a bit of trouble playing jazz on my
>> > 1952
>> > Buffet. After Katrina, I sent it to Sue Loerchen, who presented it to
> Tom
>> > Fisher. Saw him recently on YouTube and with what looked like my trusty
>> > Buffet. He makes is sound a lot better than I ever could. :-) VBG
>> >
>> > Cheers,
>> > Steve
>> >
>> >
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>>
>>
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