Alignment instructions.
This is your last warning: if you do not feel comfortable bending metal on your bass clarinet, find someone who does this for a living. (Or at least someone who is comfortable!)
Step 1.
Put the neck on your bass clarinet. Note the Register Key Rod where the top joint extends up to overlap the neck’s register key mechanism. If it has a small gap, you’re done! No need to make any adjustments.
Step 2.
If there is no gap, what is probably now happening is that you will see the register key on the neck slightly open. Therefore we need to gently bend the Register Key Rod ever-so-slightly away from the bass clarinet. Remove the neck from the top joint and set aside. Place the body of the instrument in your lap, and grasp the Register Key Rod between your thumb and forefinger. The metal is fairly soft, so do not expect a lot of resistance. Again, be gentle — you can always bend more, and it’s much worse to bend the rod back and forth, because it weakens the solder joint. If it is too difficult for you to bend with your bare hands, you may want to use a small pliers. Do NOT use a pliers with a serrated jaw—use only smooth-jaw or nylon jaw pliers. These can be found on Amazon for under $10 and are a useful tool for your toolbox.
Note - if you use pliers on any plated metal on your instrument, be sure to put a cushioned cloth between the pliers and the metal you are gripping, or you will scratch the plating. For this register key rod, it’s not an issue, because it’s already covered in plastic.
Step 3.
Put the neck back onto the bass clarinet. Check the gap; it should be about 1-2 millimeters. One easy way to tell if it’s large enough is if 2 playing cards fall out but 3 or 4 can be held between the two keys. Any larger than that, and the gap is too large.
Customer Reviews
This neck is one of the best purchase decisions I’ve made.
It makes my MAX much more resonant, depth, projection and most importantly, I’m comfortable playing it. Also, doesn’t it just look so unique with the resonator? (Tips: the resonator might come in very loose. I added some tissues between the resonator and the neck to make it stays in the same position. It actually worked and sounds much better!)
I've had the Max for almost a year and finally ordered the firebird neck. It made such a difference for me in focus, power, depth of sound, and ease of play. The sound quality between the 2 necks was a bit more difficult to discern- very subtle, but I was pleased with that too. Totally worth it as it helped create that overall feel I was looking for.
As far as the register key needing adjustment, I tried to do the deed and couldn't! So to close the gap without any risk involved, I wrapped the mechanism in electrical tape to make it thicker which closed the gap perfectly.
If you are not sure, go for it. I have no regrets.
This neck is amazing; it opens up the sound som the Max; the sound now sounds like a Polaris, only more open, in my opinion. If you're in the fence, buy it; you'll love it!
This neck will add resonance, color, projection and focus to your Royal Global, or in my case Amati bass clarinet. (I had the pip key modified so it fit my horn. This will not fit an Amati out of the box.) Solid investment!!