 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: dfh
Date: 2010-10-19 03:15
Today a student brought in 2 of the new "E11 France". I had her ship both back. The intonation was beyond unacceptable, the tone holes had jagged edges on the inside I could see with my bare eyes, and they looked to be plastic. The clarinet is just too light to actually be made out of solid wood. One of the barrels was terrible and killed the sound on both clarinets. They felt even enough, but no real resonance in the sound. Then I read here about the posts being glued on???
Such a huge disappointment after the relative quality of the German E11's. E11's are the go to clarinet for the Jr. High set, so now what? I'm looking into the Bliss and Yamaha.
Have other's had this experience? I just can't support this product!
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Author: clarnibass
Date: 2010-10-19 04:43
I've tried of those E11 France models, but just played each for a few minutes at most. Intonation was ok but a bit hard to judge where I played them. I thought they played ok, pretty good even. At first I thought they had a problem with the A key being too far from the first finger ring. Maybe they changed it or I changed my mind, but when I tried them again a year later I thought this was a very minor issue. But when I saw the price I changed my mind, for example I prefer the significantly less expensive Yamaha 450. Also when I found out about the glued posts.
I don't really agree about the quality of Schreiber made E11s. I've been pretty disapointed with them for a few years now. Some main problems include significant key play from new, poor quality pad skins that tear easily and slight incosistency in response and tone.
Re the Bliss that was mentioned, I would need more time with them to see what I really find but from briefly play testing them they seemed ok. The only two issues I remember not liking (and might not be a issue for someone else) were the Valentino pads and the PRAG.
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Author: Barry Vincent
Date: 2010-10-19 06:10
I'm more than happy with the Schreiber 6010s , I"ve did a review of it on this site, check it out. You could say that it is a German made B12.
Skyfacer
Post Edited (2010-10-19 06:19)
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Author: Lelia Loban ★2017
Date: 2010-10-19 12:40
>>Today a student brought in 2 of the new "E11 France". I had her ship both back. The intonation was beyond unacceptable, the tone holes had jagged edges on the inside I could see with my bare eyes, and they looked to be plastic. The clarinet is just too light to actually be made out of solid wood.>>
That description makes me wonder where the student bought the clarinets. Do you know for sure that they came from the authentic manufacturer or from a dealer who's definitely legitimate? I ask because more and more fakes seem to be showing up in the marketplace. Buying sight-unseen has always been an iffy proposition (she says blithely, having just broken her own rule and bought a new mouthpiece sight-unseen -- but from a reputable dealer; and it turns out to be a good mouthpiece) and getting iffier all the time. If a clarinet comes from an auction house or an unfamiliar dealer, you don't know where it's been.
Lelia
http://www.scoreexchange.com/profiles/Lelia_Loban
To hear the audio, click on the "Scorch Plug-In" box above the score.
Post Edited (2010-10-19 12:41)
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Author: dfh
Date: 2010-10-19 14:50
Lelia, there are from a very trusted dealer and surely the real thing, but a good thing to keep in mind, thanks for opening my eyes to that.
The old E11's weren't perfect, but at least with a good one, they played like a wood clarinet, had resonance, even tone. I know I tried only 2, and 2 that had consecutive serial numbers at that, but I played them for over 30 min, and had my student play them and we had the same problems. If I can't adjust the intonation, there's no way I can expect a student to do it!
I've got some Bliss headed my direction and will check out the Yamaha's (which was my step up clarinet in Jr. HIgh many years ago.)
I wonder: have other noticed bad pitch on these? Especially between the C below the staff (middle C) and the d above it (same with G/A in the clarion register) there was a 20 cent difference in the pitch, C/G being very very low, and D/A being very high, and almost as much difference between low G/A and clarion D/E. A/E being very flat (and when does that ever happen!?). And throat Bb was right on the money. Strange.
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Author: NBeaty
Date: 2010-10-19 23:04
"Played like a wood clarinet"?
They are wood instruments, so I guess it's good that they played like it was made of wood...
They are all shipped out with a 64.5 mm barrel, which tends to make for a sharp instrument. Most likely, the tone hole placement and undercutting wasn't done perfectly, so pitch issues in random places can happen.
A teacher once told me "They go to make R13's and the ones that aren't cut as well get assembled as E11's". I'm not sure if that's literally what goes on, and don't think he meant that literally, but he was making the point that less time and precision is spent on the "lower end" models.
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Author: garoover
Date: 2010-10-29 08:03
It is sad to hear you weren't happy with the E11 France, I am the Australian Sales manager for Buffet and all accounts here in Australia have been glowing (I'm not just doing the sales pitch).
The above comments are very correct
1/ be careful that they are not counterfeits from china I have seen a few
2/ the pitch is slightly higher so it may take a little getting used to
3/ They are made in France in the old Leblanc factory
4/ they are a completely different model to the R13
5/ You must consider that it is an upgrade student instrument, please don't expect them to be as good as an R13
6/ Make sure that the dealer has pre sale serviced them, in transit some things may shift and they all need setups and back up by the dealer too
it is important to buy locally for this reason
7/ Have you spoken to the dealer that sent the instrument to check what you were delivered?
cheers
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Author: clarnibass
Date: 2010-10-29 08:52
Re-reading about the main intonation issue, I'm not sure why, but it is pretty common for new clarinets to have the top key of the lower joint significantly too low. This will cause C/G to play flat and possibly stuffy/airy too. The D/A has a tendency to play a bit sharp on many clarinets. Check that key height, could help a lot if that happens to be the problem.
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