Klarinet Archive - Posting 000124.txt from 1994/12

From: Stephen Cranefield <stephen@-----.NZ>
Subj: Clarinet Comparisons
Date: Thu, 8 Dec 1994 23:14:25 -0500

Nunn, Ralph L writes:

> I've read a lot about the new line of Leblanc's (I think it's called
> Concerto), and they claim that they are a better instrument than the
> Buffet, because intonation is better, and they have what they call
> "even resistance" (or something like that) in all the registers. I
> asked my professor what he thought of the instruments, and he said
> that if he had the money, he'd probably switch. I'd like to read
> what someone else thinks of these instruments, and whether or not
> he/she switched to this instrument from a Buffet.

I tried the Leblanc Concerto recently in Sydney and I have to say I
was very disappointed. As someone playing on old (but still perfectly
functional) Leblanc L300s I was wondering if I might be tempted to
upgrade to the newest model. What I found was a shock: the Concerto
is like a new brand of clarinet, there seem to be no similarities to
previous Leblancs and as someone previously sold on Leblanc clarinets
I now find that if I were to upgrade I might as well change to some
other brand. One of the things I used to really like about Leblancs
was the way the keys all seemed to lie neatly under the fingers -- the
keywork felt the most comfortable to me of any brand I had tried.
Unfortunately the Concerto seems to have completely changed the
keywork. Even the traditional Leblanc 'rounded' (rather than pointed)
shape of the trill key levers has changed. OK, this is just a
cosmetic thing but it seems to suggest they have completely abandoned
the traditions of the past.

The shop had a Concerto and an LX in stock. I tried both and found
that using my usual mouthpiece and reed I could play the LX with no
problem at all. The Concerto just felt all wrong -- if I were to play
one I'd probably need to change my mouthpiece and/or the reeds I play
on. Sadly, the shopkeeper told me that the LX has now been
discontinued. Now I have no problem with Leblanc introducing a
radical new model, but why do they also have to abandon their
customers who like the old style Leblancs? I was told that this was
due to the fact that the American Leblanc company now completely owns
the French Leblanc company. He also said that French Selmers were
still being produced because "young Mr Selmer" was still having some
input in France. I was previously unaware that there was any
difference between French and American Leblancs and Selmers (when I
asked the price of a Selmer Alto Sax he said "French or American?").
Can anyone fill me in on this distinction?

- Stephen

-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Stephen Cranefield Phone: +64 3 479 8083
Department of Information Science Fax: 479 8311
University of Otago
Dunedin, New Zealand E-mail: scranefield@-----.nz
-------------------------------------------------------------------------