Clarinet Materials
John Morgan
obviously a synthetic material, but can anyone tell me what it is and
how would I recognise it if I saw it.
Thanks
John
Stephen Howard
Very few synthetic bodies clarinets are made from ebonite these days -
they're far more likely to be made of ABS/plastic/nylon.
Ebonite is a very hard rubber, and is still used for mouthpieces ( and
smoker's pipes, and bowling balls ).
Synthetic bodies are often easy to spot by virtue of having no 'grain'
- though there are some textured finishes that can prove tricky to
spot by eye. In such cases it may be necessary to take a small
scraping from the instrument and burn it...the smell of burning
ebonite is very distinctive.
Ebonite has a tendency to discolour with time - it goes a very dull
green, though it can also go a very light brown.
Regards,
--
Stephen Howard - Woodwind repairs & period restorations
http://www.shwoodwind.co.uk
Emails to: showard{who is at}shwoodwind{dot}co{dot}uk
Steve Marshall
"Stephen Howard" <sees...@email.uk> wrote
> Very few synthetic bodies clarinets are made from ebonite these days -
> they're far more likely to be made of ABS/plastic/nylon.
> Ebonite is a very hard rubber, and is still used for mouthpieces ( and
> smoker's pipes, and bowling balls ).
A lot of the cheap Chinese clarinets were/are made of ebonite. The smell of
rubber is the give-away!
They messed up using silver plate keys on some, (which readily deteriotes in
the presence of ebonite.) Some claimed 'chemical spillages' as the source of
the problem rather than admitting the mistake. Others produces gold plated
ebonite clarinets. I've got a one with the Venus name on it.
> Synthetic bodies are often easy to spot by virtue of having no 'grain'
> - though there are some textured finishes that can prove tricky to
> spot by eye. In such cases it may be necessary to take a small
> scraping from the instrument and burn it...the smell of burning
> ebonite is very distinctive.
If it burns, it's wood.
If it burns and smells of rubber, it's ebonite.
If it burns and melts it's plastic.
Alternatively, you can rub the end of a joint with your hand and then smell
it. You can often smell rubber of ebonite pieces.
Steve M
Stephen Howard
<s...@atmosBlockA.plus.com> wrote:
>
>"Stephen Howard" <sees...@email.uk> wrote
>
>> Very few synthetic bodies clarinets are made from ebonite these days -
>> they're far more likely to be made of ABS/plastic/nylon.
>> Ebonite is a very hard rubber, and is still used for mouthpieces ( and
>> smoker's pipes, and bowling balls ).
>
>A lot of the cheap Chinese clarinets were/are made of ebonite. The smell of
>rubber is the give-away!
>They messed up using silver plate keys on some, (which readily deteriotes in
>the presence of ebonite.) Some claimed 'chemical spillages' as the source of
>the problem rather than admitting the mistake. Others produces gold plated
>ebonite clarinets. I've got a one with the Venus name on it.
I know the old Larks etc. were ebonite - but I haven't seen it used
recently. The last time I had to examine a batch they were clearly
made from resin ( there were air bubbles in the body walls ).
I'll have a look out for the ebonite models.
Good point re. the silver plate - though I have a couple of clients
who use military-issue Boosey 926 clarinets...ebonite bodies, silver
plated keys. Haven't noticed any undue problems as yet, but that might
be down to the quality of the ebonite - I should imagine it's rather
better than the Chinese stuff.
>
>> Synthetic bodies are often easy to spot by virtue of having no 'grain'
>> - though there are some textured finishes that can prove tricky to
>> spot by eye. In such cases it may be necessary to take a small
>> scraping from the instrument and burn it...the smell of burning
>> ebonite is very distinctive.
>
>If it burns, it's wood.
>If it burns and smells of rubber, it's ebonite.
>If it burns and melts it's plastic.
You can also try licking it...ebonite often tastes acidic.
Nick Jones
>
> You can also try licking it...ebonite often tastes acidic.
True - slightly sulphurous, I would say (I have an vintage ebonite
fountain pen that I must remember not to suck when deep in thought...).
But in that case, why is this not a problem with HR mpc's?
Nick
Stephen Howard
It can be. If the piece gets to the stage where it goes green it tends
thereafter to be prone to leaching sulphides.
The reason it goes unnoticed is because the piece is in use ( it gets
handled and played on a regular basis ). Leave it long enough though
and it will taste acrid.
I've got a Vandoren piece that does this.
Regards,
--
Stephen Howard - Woodwind repairs & period restorations
Nick Jones
treating it in some way (possibly some way suggested by you, Steve) and
it tastes just fine!
NJ
Doctroid
Stephen Howard <sees...@email.uk> wrote:
> I know the old Larks etc. were ebonite - but I haven't seen it used
> recently. The last time I had to examine a batch they were clearly
> made from resin ( there were air bubbles in the body walls ).
> I'll have a look out for the ebonite models.
Of course there are hard rubber Lyriques -- I don't know if that
technically is ebonite, or if that term covers only some other type of
hard rubber.
--
Oh, hey, I just noticed my sig disappeared. Another consequence of the
Great Hard Drive Crash of '07.
Someone send me a new one.
Bob Lombard
> In article <p0da04lho8bpe37nr...@4ax.com>,
> Stephen Howard <sees...@email.uk> wrote:
>
>> I know the old Larks etc. were ebonite - but I haven't seen it used
>> recently. The last time I had to examine a batch they were clearly
>> made from resin ( there were air bubbles in the body walls ).
>> I'll have a look out for the ebonite models.
>
> Of course there are hard rubber Lyriques -- I don't know if that
> technically is ebonite, or if that term covers only some other type of
> hard rubber.
>
could explain a few things.
bl
EW
"c.1851 Ebonite is patented and commercialised by Nelson Goodyear
(USA). "
See: http://www.vcomp.co.uk/plastics/plastic_timeline.htm
Stephen Howard
wrote:
>In article <p0da04lho8bpe37nr...@4ax.com>,
> Stephen Howard <sees...@email.uk> wrote:
>
>> I know the old Larks etc. were ebonite - but I haven't seen it used
>> recently. The last time I had to examine a batch they were clearly
>> made from resin ( there were air bubbles in the body walls ).
>> I'll have a look out for the ebonite models.
>
>Of course there are hard rubber Lyriques -- I don't know if that
>technically is ebonite, or if that term covers only some other type of
>hard rubber.
These days it's a generic term - the same as Hoover, which is
generally applied to any vacuum cleaner.
Most mouthpiece makers will use the term 'hard rubber' - but the
materials process won't be so very different from branded Ebonite.
Probably just enough to avoid the patent.
For example, Rousseau describe their pieces as being made from
'highest quality hard rubber'.
Regards,
--
Stephen Howard - Woodwind repairs & period restorations
Bob Lombard
> On Wed, 16 Apr 2008 09:31:15 -0400, Doctroid <doct...@mailinator.com>
> wrote:
>
>> In article <p0da04lho8bpe37nr...@4ax.com>,
>> Stephen Howard <sees...@email.uk> wrote:
>>
>>> I know the old Larks etc. were ebonite - but I haven't seen it used
>>> recently. The last time I had to examine a batch they were clearly
>>> made from resin ( there were air bubbles in the body walls ).
>>> I'll have a look out for the ebonite models.
>> Of course there are hard rubber Lyriques -- I don't know if that
>> technically is ebonite, or if that term covers only some other type of
>> hard rubber.
>
> These days it's a generic term - the same as Hoover, which is
> generally applied to any vacuum cleaner.
> Most mouthpiece makers will use the term 'hard rubber' - but the
> materials process won't be so very different from branded Ebonite.
> Probably just enough to avoid the patent.
> For example, Rousseau describe their pieces as being made from
> 'highest quality hard rubber'.
>
>
>
The patent must be long expired, so the formula could be identical. I
suppose the trademark could still be protected. It's pretty non
descriptive though, something like Bakelite in that regard.
bl
John Morgan
> > wrote:
>
> >> In article <p0da04lho8bpe37nrhs02hdlm3k514v...@4ax.com>,
> >> Stephen Howard <seesig...@email.uk> wrote:
>
> >>> I know the old Larks etc. were ebonite - but I haven't seen it used
> >>> recently. The last time I had to examine a batch they were clearly
> >>> made from resin ( there were air bubbles in the body walls ).
> >>> I'll have a look out for the ebonite models.
> >> Of course there are hard rubber Lyriques -- I don't know if that
> >> technically is ebonite, or if that term covers only some other type of
> >> hard rubber.
>
> > These days it's a generic term - the same as Hoover, which is
> > generally applied to any vacuum cleaner.
> > Most mouthpiece makers will use the term 'hard rubber' - but the
> > materials process won't be so very different from branded Ebonite.
> > Probably just enough to avoid the patent.
> > For example, Rousseau describe their pieces as being made from
> > 'highest quality hard rubber'.
>
> The patent must be long expired, so the formula could be identical. I
> suppose the trademark could still be protected. It's pretty non
> descriptive though, something like Bakelite in that regard.
>
> bl
Many thanks all, I didn't expect such a great response. Maybe I'll try
burning a bit of my cheap old chinese clarinet and see what happens. I
think I'll leave the Buffet alone though.
John
Dave C.
"Stephen Howard" <sees...@email.uk> wrote in message
news:gfaa04908k6tdrbq0...@4ax.com...
> On Tue, 15 Apr 2008 13:02:34 -0700 (PDT), John Morgan
> <jo...@morgans-net.com> wrote:
>
> Synthetic bodies are often easy to spot by virtue of having no 'grain'
> - though there are some textured finishes that can prove tricky to
> spot by eye. In such cases it may be necessary to take a small
> scraping from the instrument and burn it...the smell of burning
> ebonite is very distinctive.
I just received a Yamaha YCL61 clarinet (one of my son's clarinets) and
trying to figure out if it is wood or synthetic with regards to care.
Does anyone know the construction material of this model? It appears to have
faint grain on the surface.
Thanks in advance,
Regards, Dave C.
Stephen Howard
The 61 is wood....it's an older version of the 62, now the 650.
Regards,
--
Stephen Howard - Woodwind repairs & period restorations
Dave C.
Ah, thank you very much. It's good to know so I make sure I treat it
correctly.
I am retired and an active trumpet player and will continue to be so.
Learning clarinet will be secondary, but to me, it will be a challenge to
learn it because of the fingerings, etc.
My next step is know if clarinet playing will affect my embouchure. The
little playing I've done so far does not give me the sense of embouchure
stress.
Kindest regards, Dave C.