Clapper Capers!

[Valerie Stephenson]

Hi L-ers:  I couldn't help giggling over the very serious topic on clappers as the Johnny Carson "Classic Copper Clapper Caper" kept running thru my head.  I'm sure 99% of us have seen it, but if not... http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=221761635479381496#. 

 

    Seriously..... 

    I have NO knowledge of the newer clapper assemblies for Schulmerichs, but I will add one tad of advice for those who couldn't match the brilliance of a previous set.  You may never... here are my thoughts.

    When we bought our church Schuls and I bought my own set, it was not balanced in timbre, and not just thru those changes in clapper size.  I found the company VERY helpful in sending me packets of clappers, letting me try them out, and finally just sending back the ones I didn't want.  Of course, this was at the time of purchase, not years later.  Even so, when I had them refurbished, they'd still nicely comply if some of them didn't match.

    Here's the glitch.  Those of you who have ever knitted, sewed, or tried to match a paint, know these all come in dye lots... large batches that supposedly match, but don't.  So does RUBBER, one of the major components in a clapper.

    I worked long and hard to finally get these 2 sets to reasonably match... and a lot of it has to do with the positioning of the clapper head.  Dead center is not always the "sweet spot" for the clapper or the bell.  On that happy and colorful thought, I'll return to the closet where Clara Clifford kept the copper clappers that Claude Cooper from Cleveland copped from Carson (or something like that ;-)  LV