One thing that I feel very strongly about with the bass is the neck angle. Back in the day, you had two choices: flat as a tenor sax (which was common in Italian made pro horns as well as in the "student" models), and just about as bad (say C melody style) in the pro horns.
Both necks brought the mouthpiece into your mouth at such a flat angle that it was hard to use your tongue in the same fashion as you would on a soprano clarinet. To those of us who played both horns regularly, it was a bit of an adjustment to go from one to another.
The best "from the factory" bass that I ever used was my old Albert Buffet, which had the mouthpiece beak at about a 50? angle, something that made it a real joy to play. In effect, it spoiled me when dealing with even the best of modern horns.
Then along came the likes of Charlie Bay, one of the first to offer a "corrected angle" bass clarinet neck. I have one of his first efforts, bought in Richmond VA at an ICS conference some twenty five years ago, and it went a long way towards correcting the problem the existence of which only a few people knew.
Alas, Charlie's strong point was clarinet mouthpiece design, not metal working. The brass used to make my new neck was so soft that I actually twisted it out of line while disassembling it with just a little less cork grease than he intended. It still worked, but it was crooked and out of line (and the register key provide on same was a bit on the cheap side).
Not to be denied what I had grown to love, I pulled the crook portion of Charlie's creation out and shoved it into the upper portion of my Selmer horn's neck. The result was even better than Charlie's neck, even if the overall arrangement looks somewhat odd. In effect, I now hold my bass clarinet at almost the same angle as I hold the soprano (about 75? from the vertical, with the lower hand slightly further away from my body).
Even better, I now adjust the insertion of the mouthpiece and the insertion of the crook and the insertion of the other part of the Selmer neck into the top joint, all so the mouthpiece is displaced off to one side, the better to read music. In effect, the mouthpiece is located "out of line" with the centerline of the horn, about an inch and a half off to the left side. It looks even more peculiar, but boy does is work well.
What fascinates me the most is that this "improved" neck angle has been a desired characteristic for many, many years, yet an adjusted neck is only an option on the highest end horn from two of the manufacturers, Selmer and Buffet. Why? Bending the student horn necks to the "right" angle would cost little more than what they expend to make them to the current angle, and a whole new world would open up for the student players. But, noooooooo...
The only good reason I can think of to keep them the way that they are is the unfortunate prevalence of marching bands over here. Once again, still another reason to do away with marching bands...
Both necks brought the mouthpiece into your mouth at such a flat angle that it was hard to use your tongue in the same fashion as you would on a soprano clarinet. To those of us who played both horns regularly, it was a bit of an adjustment to go from one to another.
The best "from the factory" bass that I ever used was my old Albert Buffet, which had the mouthpiece beak at about a 50? angle, something that made it a real joy to play. In effect, it spoiled me when dealing with even the best of modern horns.
Then along came the likes of Charlie Bay, one of the first to offer a "corrected angle" bass clarinet neck. I have one of his first efforts, bought in Richmond VA at an ICS conference some twenty five years ago, and it went a long way towards correcting the problem the existence of which only a few people knew.
Alas, Charlie's strong point was clarinet mouthpiece design, not metal working. The brass used to make my new neck was so soft that I actually twisted it out of line while disassembling it with just a little less cork grease than he intended. It still worked, but it was crooked and out of line (and the register key provide on same was a bit on the cheap side).
Not to be denied what I had grown to love, I pulled the crook portion of Charlie's creation out and shoved it into the upper portion of my Selmer horn's neck. The result was even better than Charlie's neck, even if the overall arrangement looks somewhat odd. In effect, I now hold my bass clarinet at almost the same angle as I hold the soprano (about 75? from the vertical, with the lower hand slightly further away from my body).
Even better, I now adjust the insertion of the mouthpiece and the insertion of the crook and the insertion of the other part of the Selmer neck into the top joint, all so the mouthpiece is displaced off to one side, the better to read music. In effect, the mouthpiece is located "out of line" with the centerline of the horn, about an inch and a half off to the left side. It looks even more peculiar, but boy does is work well.
What fascinates me the most is that this "improved" neck angle has been a desired characteristic for many, many years, yet an adjusted neck is only an option on the highest end horn from two of the manufacturers, Selmer and Buffet. Why? Bending the student horn necks to the "right" angle would cost little more than what they expend to make them to the current angle, and a whole new world would open up for the student players. But, noooooooo...
The only good reason I can think of to keep them the way that they are is the unfortunate prevalence of marching bands over here. Once again, still another reason to do away with marching bands...