WTB: Wooden Bass Clarinet

[littlemanbighorn]

I've just sold my Tenor in order to buy a bass clarinet.
I'm looking for a well-made wooden bass clarinet in playing condition or requiring little work in or around the $2000 mark.
Selmers, Leblancs, Conns, etc..
Or alternately a more inexpensive wooden horn without cracks that requires pads.
email me at littlemanbighorn@yahoo.ca

[David Spiegelthal]

Hello littlemanbighorn,

I might have just what you need, but my home email is not working at the moment. Please email me at: david.spiegelthal@gd-ais.com if you're still looking for a bass clarinet.

DS

[littlemanbighorn]

Got your email and replied. Thanks Dave, but I picked up a Noblet on ebay and am anxiously awaiting it's arrival.

[David Spiegelthal]

"....I picked up a Noblet on ebay and am anxiously awaiting it's arrival."

"Anxiously" (with anxiety) or "eagerly" (with pleasant anticipation)? Sorry, this is a common grammatical error that's become endemic in the US --- I know we're not supposed to be English teachers here but this is one of my pet peeves. Good luck with the Noblet.

[littlemanbighorn]

No, I would say anxiously is the correct word here.
I'm worried that it'll be damaged or lost in shipping or that it won't be exactly as advertised. Or they'll have done a lousy job on the setup and it'll need a full repad....I'm a little neurotic.
I'll sleep better once it's in my hands ( Though I won't sleep with it in my hands.)
I have no problem with you correctly my usage of the word anxiously. I'm a big fan of proper grammar, spelling, and NOT USING ALL CAPS ALL THE TIME. I'm also a big fan of using the entire word instead of using lazy internet spelling 4 evrythng. I'm glad you pointed that out, actually.

[David Spiegelthal]

I like you already! Keep us posted on the Noblet, I hope it all turns out OK.

[littlemanbighorn]

Funny you should mention it. I was planning on doing a post in the Ebay section today, though some mention in the Bass Clarinet section wouldn't be a bad idea.
I bid on and won the horn a couple of weeks ago. The first (minor) problem came when (should've been paying attention) I realized that the seller didn't take Paypal, only Bidpay. Bidpay doesn't work for more than a thousand, so I had to send a money order and wait for him to get it.
The auction read:
"This Clarinet just has been serviced in our Shop. We are certified Professional Instrument Repair Technicians with over 7000 Instruments repaired and over 30 Years of Experience. This Noblet Bassclarinet has been cleaned, hand polished, lubricated, Pads / Springs / Corks replaced were needed."
When I received the instrument, the first part of the (well-wrapped) instrument that I unwrapped was the bell, where I noticed the low Eb pad was quite worn and not properly seated. I continued unwrapping the horn and it played, though stuffily. Unfortunately, since I was so happy that it had arrived I gave the seller positive feedback. After giving the feedback I noticed that the pictures were incorrect. He had put pictures from a different bass clarinet in the auction. They were of the same model Noblet, but with a different case and slightly different logo on the upper joint. The case I received was in better condition than the ones in the photo, so I was okay with that.
I then started to carefully inspect the pads and there were at least 7 pads that were visibly worn, torn , not seated properly or too small for the pad cups and it looked like only 2 or 3 pads had been replaced. The horn itself was in great condition, though.
So I contacted the seller, megamint. He refused to believe that he had listed the wrong pictures, but offered me a full refund on the horn if I wanted. Unfortunately, due to my living in Canada, I had paid quite a bit on shipping, GST taxes and UPS brokerage fees (next time I'll request USPS), there was a fair amount of money that I couldn't get back and some (GST) that would likely take a while to get back if I sent the horn back.
So I decided to keep the horn which is currently at my tech getting $200 worth of repairs, which is cheaper than the other options and I won't have to wait months to get another horn. Of course I can't really complain to Ebay about him since he offered me the refund, but I thought everyone on here should know that his horns receive a considerably less than thorough going over. (one might say totally substandard)
He seems to specialize in large clarinets and bassoons. Which are still pretty reasonable, but definitely budget for a bunch of work.