Klarinet Archive - Posting 001275.txt from 1998/05
From: "Kevin Fay (LCA)" <kevinfay@-----.com>
Subj: RE: [kl] "Best" Plastic Clarinet (Why Bundy Stinks)
Date: Tue, 26 May 1998 11:44:00 -0400
There are 2 reasons that the U.S. Bundy and French Selmers "feel" different.
First, they are made by separate companies. Selmer USA merely markets the
French instruments here in the U.S. The U.S. made Bundys (Bundies?) and
Signet horns are of a completely different design.
Second, the separate design/manufacture of the Bundy is inferior. The
keywork is not forged, as the pro instruments (and everyone else's student
horn), but cast--a much cheaper process. All of the Selmer USA clarinets
feature this weird-feeling keywork. In addition, there are certain Bundy
models that have remarkably bad intonation on purpose--because many young
students have flaccid embouchures, the higher clarion notes (A, B and C in
particular) are intentionally made to be extremely sharp. Others have a
decent scale, but continue to be hampered by the inferior keywork.
IMHO, every other student clarinet made by virtually any other manufacturer
is a much better value. Vito Pascucci (sp?) of Leblanc has made a small
pile of money selling his good student horn, with nice keywork and in a
number of colors no less. The Artley/Conn/Hemke ain't bad. The current
crop of Yamahas and Buffets (my choice) have virtually pro-like keywork and
pretty good intonation. All of them cost about the same as the Bundy--so
buy the better horn.
kjf
-----Original Message-----
From: Bill Hausmann [mailto:bhausman@-----.com]
Subject: Re: [kl] "Best" Plastic Clarinet
At 06:46 PM 5/25/98 -0700, Sheryl L. Katz wrote:
>I've got a Yamaha YCL 64 that I play every day when I'm home, but my job
>demands a certain amount of travel. Not wanting to damage my Yamaha, I
have
>a Selmer Bundy about 20 years old or so that someone gave me; it is
plastic.
>I hate it.
>
>The sound, with a decent mouthpiece isn't that bad, but when I switch to it
>it feels sort of wierd. I can't exactly say why I hate it, but the Yamaha
>feels like it was made to fit into my hands and the mechanisms feel good,
>the Bundy feels oddly wrong. I'm thinking of getting another plastic
>clarinet and getting rid of this bundy. Does anyone have a recommendation.
>I don't want an expensive instrument but something that I could live with
>being damaged or stolen.
>
>I'm considering the Vito, the Buffet B-12 and the Yamaha YCL-20. Is there
>any reason to think that the Yamaha mechanisms would feel remotely like
>those on my YCL-64? This isn't easy to test just by picking up an
>instrument and playing a few scales on - it's something that I become more
>aware of the more I play the instrument.
>
>Or, is one of the other student instruments clearly "better." They claim
to
>have undercut holes which the Yamaha does not. Are they all just as
cheaply
>made as my bundy?
>
The YCL-20 should feel very similar to your YCL-64. Yamaha instruments
share most design features and feel throughout their line, unlike the vast
differences that exist between Selmer's student and pro lines (But change
is in the wind -- they just came out with the AS 300 alto sax, replacing
the Bundy II with a COMPLETELY new design, much more like pro models in
feel). The B-12 should also feel similar, since the Yamaha design is
patterned closely after Buffet. For travel purposes, the Yamaha comes in a
miniscule case. No room for accessories, but very compact for packing
within another bag.
Bill Hausmann bhausman@-----.com
451 Old Orchard Drive http://www.concentric.net/~bhausman
Essexville, MI 48732 http://members.wbs.net/homepages/z/o/o/zoot14.html
ICQ UIN 4862265
If you have to mic a saxophone, the rest of the band is too loud.
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