Bettoney Boston 3* Plateau
I was going to give this one it's own thread but since there is an "official" plateau thread, this is where it belongs. And it is also a good way to compare the approach of different makers to the plateau concept to have them all in one thread.
I am surprised that this is the first Bettoney plateau clarinet to make it to this thread. Historically, I think their plateau beginner model came to market before other major USA makers offered them, but I could be wrong. In any case their execution of a plateau design is quite elegant and comparatively uncluttered. Bettoney makes use of key work concepts typically found on plateau Boehm flutes to keep extra rods and other clutter to a minimum. The lower joint mechanism is particularly interesting but somewhat more tedious to get into proper adjustment. Properly adjusted, it preserves all the functions of the three rings of the lower joint so that there is no change necessary in fingering strategies between this plateau model and a model with open rings. To do this, the plateau key cups cannot actuate each other, but all must actuate the B key cup as well as the bridge link. Bettoney worked this out in a particularly clever way but it took the space generally allocated to the side or cross B key, which became the other-side cross B key. This was done without adding another rod, lever, key post, or other clutter. Bettoney lets several existing mechanical paths perform double duty to reduce the necessary hardware.
The 3* also features (like all Bettoney clarinets I've seen) the patented Bettoney C# to Eb key linkage that allows an alternate forked fingering for Eb / Ab similar to the function of a 7-ring Boehm, just without the additional vent key and the typical 7-ring clutter. If there was an elegant way to do something, Bettoney typically found it if they didn't always patent it. The C# key tab that links it to the Eb ring key is patented, so if you are looking for that and don't want to have it custom made (which has to be one of the easiest customizations), just take your pick of the Bettoney offerings from about 50 years of clarinet production. It seems that all of them have this convenient innovation.
I knew that these Bettoney "covered tone hole" clarinets were made because of an old ad that appeared on ebay. I saved the tiny .jpg of the ad realizing that these clarinets, which really should have been the most popular beginner clarinet of the 20th century, were actually comparatively rare. When one sees a print ad for something that looks like a really useful innovation, but the item from the ad is very rare, one wonders what went wrong? The logical thought is that it must not have sounded good. Or it must have been poorly manufactured? Or maybe the chicks just didn't dig it?
Who knows?
It never ceases to amaze me how many really good ideas seem to get put on the shelf while the mediocre ideas are mass produced. Unless it came with a significant upcharge, I don't know why it didn't catch on. The price in the ad doesn't seem out of line with student instruments of that era. Obviously what it needed was a Benny Goodman endorsement. If that had happened these would be low hanging fruit on ebay;- and more people might know how to play a clarinet. To this day, the plateau-keyed flute is the standard beginner flute. Why not the plateau-keyed clarinet? The 3* demonstrates the concept very successfully executed with no short comings in performance. To any one that is just beginning on clarinet, this is the best one to get to get started with. I would rate it top choice for a novice that wants the easiest kind to start on.
If one is patient enough the rare treasure will appear amidst the common clutter;- everything eventually comes up for auction. If one is really lucky, it will be obscured by the common clutter to the extent that no one else will notice it.
So when this 3 Star plateau finally appeared and didn't get much interest, I put in an offer and the seller accepted it right away. Bettoney fans and "serious" collectors were probably busy out-bidding each other on a simultaneous auction for a Silva-Bet 7 ring type, also with plateau keys. Yes, those also exist! So I had the benefit of a major diversion going on at the critical moment this appeared. It was a nice consolation to get a clear shot at the 3* while the bids on the Silva-Bet headed skyward into oblivion.
After hearing how it plays, I think it was a very lucky find. It's a unique instrument, a pristine example of it, and it delivers in both sound and playability and is made of extremely durable materials. It came with a really nice case and all the original parts and accessories (except the mouthpiece might be a more recent substitute and appears to be hard molded plastic). I'm using a hard rubber Penzel Mueller Artist mouthpiece to test the 3*. This clarinet really is in near mint condition. The rubber is not faded or oxidized and the plating is 100%. It's the closest thing to a "new" clarinet that I have owned.
Every Bettoney instrument that I have explored so far has been a well executed design and the manufacturing quality is excellent and very consistent. This was a company that paid attention to important details particularly on their student models.
Bettoney conceived it as a beginner instrument, not as a novel design variant. As such, there is nothing about the way it works that would make switching to an open ring model problematic. It does leave one tone hole, LH4, to be covered by a finger tip, pointing to the eventual technique needed on a professional clarinet, but alleviating the complication for the novice musician of mastering both an embouchure as well as manually sealing several tone holes with rings around them. I think any beginning student would find this instrument far less intimidating than a typical beginner clarinet. For those that didn't have the benefit of playing a recorder before attempting a clarinet, this plateau keyed clarinet is a much friendlier beginning point than one with open rings. I am surprised that it was not produced and adopted in very large numbers. It should have been as popular as offset-G plateau-keyed beginner flutes.
I took some side by side photos of it with a Bettoney Cadet next to it so that the key similarities and differences would be obvious. Side by side with a Cadet model one can see that the G# and A key touches are extended so that it is easier for a small hand to reach them. On the lower joint, the RH5 key touches have been moved as close as possible to the other keys, again making the reach as easy as possible for smaller hands (The Cadet model is similar in this way).
The material of the Boston 3 Star is "ebonite" body with Bakelite barrel and bell. As I have found with other Bakelite clarinet parts, typical wear marks and scratches that appear on wood and hard rubber are absent from these Bakelite parts. The Bakelite parts appear slightly darker and glossier than the hard rubber joints and this gives the 3 Star a muted two-tone appearance that is quite attractive. The tone has more of the edge that I associate with wooden clarinets and that might be the result of the Bakelite barrel in combination with the hard rubber body. The result is very close to the reedy tonal character of a wood clarinet. The key work is nickel plated and there is almost no visible wear to be seen on this whole instrument. I don't know what the base metal is because I can't see it anywhere, but my guess is that it is similar to the base metal on the Cadet keys and those appear to be nickel plated nickel-silver.
The pads have been replaced with some kind of synthetic material that is far too spongy for my taste so even though these seal OK, they also tend to stick and the feel is not something I could get used to very easily. These work well enough to evaluate the sound and general playing character, but soon they must go. I love this clarinet.
I hate these pads.
The 3* was pretty close to "plays right out of the box" but It took some typical cork shimming to get the mechanisms properly synchronized. After doing the minimum tweaks, this clarinet plays very well, has excellent intonation, projection and very even response.
I don't find that there is any problem in the A > Ab > B > Bb intonation of this clarinet. The notes there aren't spot on tuning wise, running somewhat sharp, but all sharp to about the same degree. I'd say the Boston 3 Star scores very well in the intonation department in all registers and was pleasantly surprising in responsiveness and tone in general. This is supposed to be a beginner clarinet, but it sounds pretty solid and I could see using it in performance situations where I need weather resistant materials. The combination of the Bakelite barrel with the hard rubber body is a good one if that is what is creating the resulting tone. I think it can come very close to producing the dynamics and tonal variation that I am used to getting out of my more weather sensitive wooden clarinets. Like many of my clarinet purchases, curiosity was a major factor with the 3*. It's the first plateau keyed clarinet I have explored and I was primarily interested in evaluating it for student use, but I think it is good enough to be a keeper. I will definitely be looking out for more of these with students in mind. These could greatly reduce the hurdles facing novice clarinetists.
