[pdxdoug]

Anyone tried this thing?

http://www.freewing.fi/en/

Seems like a good enough idea but at $300 USD, unnecessarily expensive.

 

[dirty]

I can see how that would help, but I feel like a neckstrap eliminates the need for any of these fancy thumbrests by just taking the weight of the clarinet almost entirely off of the right hand. I have never used any of the ergnomic thumbrests for an extended period of time, but I did swap instruments for about 10 minutes with a friend who swore by his Kooiman. It helped some, but I still felt that pinch in the shoulder from the weight of the instrument. For me, that always leads to tension and tightness.

The biggest problem with clarinet neckstraps for me has always been that they interfered with the left thumb enough that I just couldn't get used to them, so I picked up Stephen Fox's thumbrest mount neckstrap rod, which is the second item on this page. It replaces the stock thumb rest and has a threaded mount for an included rod that has a strap loop on the end of it. It holds the strap out from the body of the instrument a bit so that my left thumb can do what it does without hitting the strap. I took it to a tech to have it installed, but the holes lined up perfectly on my modern R13 (2005) to replace the adjustable thumbrest, so I could have probably done it myself. The rod threads on and off in a couple of seconds and when it's off, the thumbrest feels totally normal and, crucially, it fits in my case without any modification.

I'm pretty pleased with it. I have had intermittent issues with the nerves in my arm and shoulders related to holding the clarinet since I was getting my bachelor's degree over a decade ago. Now that I work all day on a computer and then play clarinet almost every evening, it has taken a lot of management to keep carpal tunnel-like symptoms at bay. When I use a neckstrap, those are almost entirely gone and now I can finally have that without the annoying left hand thumb interference. I can play faster and more evenly almost immediately once that unnecessary tension is gone.

And at $25 for the replacement thumb rest and rod and $20-$40 for a strap, that's still a much cheaper experiment than that thumb rest.

 

[milandro]

is that not more or less a copy of the Forza Handrest? (plus fancy colors?)

which is the established hand rest for years and years?

As for the price, these things are all expensive

 

[mmichel]

is that not more or less a copy of the Forza Handrest? (plus fancy colors?)

which is the established hand rest for years and years?

As for the price, these things are all expensive

I does seem different than the Maestro (which is the Kooiman model for clarinet and oboe), in that it makes contact with the palm of your hand, rather than with any part of the thumb.

As for the effectiveness of the Maestro, I can say that it's made a night and day difference for me. Without it, practicing clarinet for extended sessions became far too painful for me.

The issue with clarinet is not its weight with respect to the shoulder (clarinets are pretty light), but the weird position it forces your thumb into, especially if you have large hands. The Maestro allows me to play naturally and without tension.

 

[milandro]

I thought that the right side of the thing above by kooiman leaned on the saddle between thumb and index finger , but I see it's on the thumb, anyway they are similar ideas.

 

[[email protected]]

Anyone tried this thing?

http://www.freewing.fi/en/

Seems like a good enough idea but at $300 USD, unnecessarily expensive.

Anyone tried this thing?

http://www.freewing.fi/en/

Seems like a good enough idea but at $300 USD, unnecessarily expensive.

I bought one during Covid 19 crisis last year. Took nearly 5 weeks to get it. Stalled in Europe. From Finland to San Francisco. According to the instructions some of the keys in the lower joint were removed so that the metal wrap could be installed. The thumbrest was removed. After reassembling, I tried different positions and settled on the placement of the thumb rest, the palm L bracket and finally tightened up everything. I took my time so that I could hold my clarinet with my right hand in place. I demonstrated it and asked people to hold my clarinet. Unfortunately, a lot of people felt uncomfortable about removing the thumbrest, how awkward it looked and putting it on when playing. I never mentioned the price. I found a protective pouch to put the thumbpiece into my case. the stem was bent to get a little closer to the clarinet so that I had a natural curve in the right hand which is actually pushing up the clarinet for support. I do not need to use a neck strap ANYMORE and feel comfortable playing standing up. Consequently, my technique improved. Incidentally, I use both Kooiman models too.

 

[hoefnix]

The site of freewing is not responding on my end. Is it gone or a system error on their side?

Edit: the site does not work with www.* only without. Freewing - Handrest for Woodwind instruments at least on my end. SOLVED (for me at least

 

[neutrino]

The site of freewing is not responding on my end. Is it gone or a system error on their side?

Edit: the site does not work with www.* only without. Freewing - Handrest for Woodwind instruments at least on my end. SOLVED (for me at least

Actually, I think that the problem is with the trailing /en - Freewing - Handrest for Woodwind instruments (with or w/o the https://") worked for me, while with the trailing /en it failed