Gracin (German)

Many thanks to Gerry B. for giving me the opportunity to review this clarinet.

Serial #2152 marked on the front at the bottom of the RH joint

Barrel: 60.2mm

Bore LH joint top: 14.75 mm

Bore LH joint at bottom: 14.75mm

This is marked ‘Germany’ at the top and back of the RH joint.

Intonation results taken when playing loud and not lipping. See how to interpret these results on the Model Comparison Page.

For this test, I pulled 00mm at the barrel and 1.7mm at the center tenon.

Intonation summary: The intonation on this clarinet is actually quite good. There is just one note that is intolerable, the throat tone Bb. The register key is NOT too close and the hole is not blocked. I improved this slightly by decreasing how far the register tube extends into the bore. The side key fingering was tweaked to work well. So all in all, this has good intonation, but someone who plays this will use the side Bb throat tone except when playing pianisimo.

Key work quality: There are problems with the key design. This clarinet had several keys that needed to be bent into position. The keys are very soft metal, so great care in assembling and disassembling is recommended.

This clarinet is most appropriate for: beginners

Condition issues noted: This has wonderful wood. Extremely dense and tight grain.