Eaton International clarinet

Serial Number S584 - manufactured in 2006

(click on each piece for a large full-size view)

Mouthpiece - The mouthpiece is a nice design. Nothing different from the norm. straight vertical throat walls. The tip and rails stay fairly consistent in their width.

Barrel - The Barrel is either very elegant in it's simplicity or just plain, depending upon one's perspective. The tenons rings are a nice smooth design which seems to be the norm nowadays on high end clarinets. One interesting item though, the inside of the barrel is not very smooth - this is commented more in the upper and lower joint section.

Bell - an extremely nicely finished bell, inside and out. As you can see, it's a ringless variety.

Upper Joint - the keywork on the International is heavily silverplated (so much so it makes my Leblanc LL look nickel plated), giving the Eaton a very nice look and feel. Intonation is spot on with the Eaton mpc and a 3-1/2 reed. Keywork, though, can feel "squishy" and slow reaction, but this is primarily due to the squishy rubber pads and not the keywork itself. The springs give a very nice rebound. But, when you go to close the key it slowly stops - due to the spongy rubber being used for pads. It's not a nice solid 'Stop' to the keywork. It seems as though many of owners change out the pads to leather or cork & leather pads. One interesting note is the resonator on the larger pads on the lower note. Many times resonators can be installed on cork pads.

Another interesting item is the inside bore. It is not as smoothly finished as other manufacturers. I'm not sure how this would affect any tonal qualities but it is an interesting observation. It's very rough - on this particular instrument it will get a Sweet Almond oil rejuvination process which hopefully the wood will accept well and smooth everything out.

Lower Joint - Great smooth keywork just like the upperjoint. The low spatula side-C key is a nail-file cut on it. The lower pivot are very nicely designed. The side spatula keys are not pinned like you would find on other top brands. The low F- C keycup, has a stop on it - this eliminates the need for the crows foot under the spatula keys.

The most interesting aspect of the clarinet is the pads. They are a black spongy rubber material. This is probably the most controversial aspect of this clarinet.

Intonation - spot on from chalumeau B to altissimmo E with the Eaton mouthpiece. It also handled my various vintage Selmer HS* mpcs very well.

Ergonomically I have issues with the Eaton International. The RH thumbrest is very highly placed in relation to other clarinets. This shifts the hand up and give the fingers a bit of an angle and thus interference especially with the B-F# trill key. Additionally, I found myself lifting on the 3rd ring when reaching for the lower spatula keys. An Adjustable thumbrest would have been very nice in this instance, otherwise the thumbrest has to be relocated, minimally, 0.3 inches lower for most players.

Pads - As mentioned with the pads they are very interesting. The resonator is actually a mirror, yes a mirror. I guess we are looking at the ultimate sound reflection resonator !! The pads are very spongy rubber; as a matter of fact it looks to be the same material as the sponge rubber pads I use to place instruments on.

Unfortunately the pads have horrible feedback to the player. The owner of this horn had particular problems and I can see why. You basically have to know that it is sealing and you can continue to press the keys to get it to close more. Then the keys have a weird bounce back in essence. But no positive feedback on the pads and it seems a majority of the owners change out the pads

Ergonomics - Ergonomics for both hands requires a bit of getting used to. I cannot play it with my arms more or less down to my sides due to my hands then being slightly curled. My left first finger then hits the G# spatula quite frequently. If I play with my arms outright then I have no major issues.

On the right hand the thumb rest is so far up that my 3rd ring finger hits the B-F# trill key and when I stretch for the spatula keys more often than not I pulled my 3rd ring finger off the ring. Alot of practice helped minimize the issues but I would still have problems.

The most irritable aspect of the clarinet is how far the thumbrest is up the body. With this thumbrest being quite a bit further down my RH has no ergonomic issues - an adjustable thumbrest here would be mighty helpful. Below is an example of measurements taken between my Leblanc LL and the Eaton International.

Eaton vs Leblanc LL example: (a) from top of joint to mid thumbrest (b) from top of joint to mid 1st ring (c) from top of joint to side F# key Leblanc LL Eaton Int'l Elite (in mm) (a) 46.5 42.7 47.5 (b) 39.6 41.7 42.1 (c) 75.3 78.5 77.2

so an extra stretch of 7.0mm which puts the fingers at enough of an angle to hit the side F#. When the thumb rest is moved down that distance the fingers are at the same angle as the side F# sliver and do not pose a problem.

I do have to give the Eaton a big thumbs up on the design of their springs and springstop. They are longer than normal, which gives the keywork a nice buttery smooth feel. It also may slow down the keywork a tad as the shorter a spring the quicker rebound you can get (but springs can be adjusted). But if you like buttery smooth keywork this is a great clarinet.

General pics - Leblanc LL on top