[Dixielandjazz] Clarinet Tuning

Tue Jun 12 19:34:00 PDT 2007

For those into conspiracy plots I believe that Selmer deliberately set about 
ruining the Buescher name by making horns that gradually got worse until 
they only had the name.  By that time musicians had caught on and quit 
buying them.  I think it was quite a fraud.  I think it would have made more 
sense to have kept it as a parallel brand but Selmer wanted to have no other 
gods before them.

I have never played on a 400 tenor.  The only one I ever heard was played by 
a guy that unless he had a magic horn nothing could do him any good.
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 9:17 PM
Subject: Re: [Dixielandjazz] Clarinet Tuning

>I agree that the 400s are the apogee for saxes.  I bought my alto on Ebay.
> I had bought a 1960 S-7 alto and wasn't happy with it.  By that time,
> Buescher had started buying and using Bundy parts for the posts and spoon
> key linkages.
>
> I got the 1949 Buescher and then had it completely restored....engraving 
> and
> all. It took over a year!  But the horn is perfect.  I just wish I played
> alto better.  I've been playing tenor for so long I seem to have lost my
> alto touch.
>
> I've the 1952 Buescher 400 tenor since 1974 and would never part with it.
> Big, mellow sound and a light touch.  Great if you're doing a Hawkins
> tribute.
>
> I've got a curved Buescher soprano from 1920 that has the most incredible
> voice. The make shows as "Perfectone" but it's a Buescher stencil. Only
> keyed to Eb, but with that voice, who cares.
>
> A shame that Buescher sold out to Selmer and then went tiny and tinny back
> in the 1960s.
>
> Jack Bryce
>
>
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: "Larry Walton Entertainment - St. Louis" <larrys.bands at charter.net>
> To: "J. D. Bryce" <brycejo at comcast.net>
> Cc: "Dixieland Jazz Mailing List" <dixielandjazz at ml.islandnet.com>
> Sent: Tuesday, June 12, 2007 10:12 PM
> Subject: Re: [Dixielandjazz] Clarinet Tuning
>
>
>> 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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>> >> >
>> >>
>> >>
>> >>
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> 