 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: Brenda Siewert
Date: 2003-01-29 15:26
After a discussion on the board about Leblanc's Esprit clarinets, I decided to check them out at my local dealer's. It had been a long time since I play-tested any of them because I had a hard time finding good quality in the past couple of years since Tom Ridenour left Leblanc. But, my dealer had 3 and I found one that had just come in and was still in the plastic wrap. It was excellent right out of the box. This almost never happens! I brought it home and have been surprised at the big tone on jazz, big band and the klezmer stuff I have in my music folder.
I have always thought about this instrument being a good one for a student player, but found the tone so nice that I actually enjoyed playing it. Perhaps it is the slightly larger bore size, (.577" as compared to .575" on most standard orchestral models. Key action was very nice--and I enjoyed the inline jump trill keys. It's a bit cheaper than an R-13--another bonus.
The Leblanc LL, Pete Fountain, L7 and others have been mentioned for doublers and jazz players, but I wanted to add the Esprit to the list.
My biggest complaint about these instruments has been the difficulty of finding a good used one--and the slump Leblanc seemed to enter a couple of years ago. Of course, most used ones were used by students and really took a beating--so I guess I haven't had a good batch to compare.
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Author: Clarence
Date: 2003-01-29 16:02
Brenda,
I may be buying a new pro horn soon and was wondering what you like. Have you heard anything about the new buffet pro horn due out in 2004 ? Pricing ?
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Author: Brenda Siewert
Date: 2003-01-29 18:06
Clarence,
I haven't heard about the new Buffet. If I hear I'll let you know.
There are lots of choices out there for pro instruments. I guess the standard Buffet R-13 is one that you can't hardly beat for value and dependability. Unless you get a bad one--but that's another story. Let's assume you get a good one. You can always know they'll "play well with others" without nightmare intonation problems.
I've always been a fan of the Leblanc Opus, but there again you'll have to search out a good one.
It doesn't hurt to check out people who do the leg work for you and hand-select instruments. You can check with Lisa Argiris about hand-selected Buffets, etc. Greg Smith's clarinets come from there.
Look on the board. There've been lots of discussions about excellent pro instruments.
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Author: Aaron
Date: 2003-01-29 21:29
Clarence,
I was speaking with a Boosey rep this past week and he mentioned to me about the new line of clarinet by Buffet. He called it the "Tosca" yes as in the opera. Small things have been changed to improve intonation and they clearness of how certain notes speak. Also, a few items i remember, the C#/G# key on the right hand has a raised tone hole, much like the tone holes on the Elite. Also added is another key to the bottom of the clarient, placed almost opposite of the low E key. This key acts like a vent allowing the low F to be played more in tune apparently, much like to mechanism on the Buffet Bass clarinets.
As far as a price, I'd guess something like the Elite, but I would hope it would be more in line with the RC prestige line. The dealer wasn't specific about that.
I didn't see/play the horn, apparently according to the dealer, Buffet has already released the horn, about a week agao. Hopefully it will be as good of a horn as they make it out to be.
Aaron
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Author: Clarence
Date: 2003-01-29 21:45
Aaron,
I talked to someone yesterday that was at a trade show somewhere in the Western USA. He told me the name of the horn and location of the show and I forgot. He played the horn and said it was the best he had ever played. I asked him if it was better than an Opus and he said yes.
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Author: Brenda Siewert
Date: 2003-01-30 14:12
Remember that all instruments at trade shows are set up to the highest standards because the reps want to get a good reputation for their instrument. If you can get one of them, they are usually great. However, if you order one later on it might not meet the expectations you've set for it based upon what you've heard about it. Play test several before you buy unless you can get one of those that up for demo by the reps.
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