Klarinet Archive - Posting 000697.txt from 1996/02

From: Josias Associates <josassoc@-----.COM>
Subj: Re: C clarinets
Date: Fri, 23 Feb 1996 18:09:24 -0500

On Fri, 23 Feb 1996, louis elliott natkin wrote:

> Can someone suggest a source for a GOOD "c" clarinet? Living in the Mojave
> desert of California makes it difficult to find such instruments. Thanks!
>
> Also, what's a GOOD clarinet which won't have pitch problems?
>
> Thanks,
>
> Louis
>
Louis,

Several years ago, after a long fruitless search for a Buffet C
clarinet, I succumbed to Bob Gilbert's repeated assurances that the
Noblet C was the ticket. The bottom lines are that I bought one of several
Noblet instruments Bob had in stock and that I have been delighted
with the instrument and play it often. (I'm using it tomorrow in
Beethoven's 9th Symphony.)

After the purchase, I did an A/B comparison with a superb older
Buffet C owned by a friend. The scales were comparable and the sound
quality almost indistinguishable, with a slight edge to the Buffet. However,
judging by the then unavailability of Buffet Cs in the U.S. and Europe, I
had the feeling that the company had either lost interest in making Cs or
had lost the recipe for manufacturing their previously excellent
instruments.

My only disappointment in the Noblet C was in its keywork, which fell
short of that of the Buffet and Selmer instruments. The principal
offenders were the rings, which were so high as to make the covering of
holes unreliable. But that problem was fixed with some straightforward
mechanical adjustments. And I should mention one other item: the
instrument (at least at that time) sold for about one half the price of
a new Buffet.

Bob Gilbert's telephone number is (310)652-4671 and his store is
in Los Angeles on La Cienega Blvd near Melrose Avenue. (I assume L.A. is
the nearest big city to Mojave.)

I hope this has been helpful.

Connie

Conrad Josias
La Canada, California

   
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