 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: Cara
Date: 2000-04-03 17:35
Could anyone tell me if the less expensive plastic eb clarinets are any good?I am quite keen to aquire one ,but dont really have the dosh to go to a wood one,will it be worthwhile,I havnt seen any secondhand ones in this neck of the woods!
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Author: Dee
Date: 2000-04-03 17:41
Well I have been playing a Selmer Bundy plastic Eb. It has worked fairly well for me. However, I would strongly advise getting at least a semi-professional mouthpiece to replace the stock mouthpiece. Everything that is critical in playing a Bb clarinet is super-critical on the Eb.
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Author: Meri
Date: 2000-04-03 18:20
Cara:
Some of the plastic E-flats are really good; I personally like the Leblanc plastic Ebs over most wood Buffet ones--I find the second too stuffy in general. (note that my Bb's an R-13, which I love completely)
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Author: Drew
Date: 2000-04-03 21:24
As with many things, it really depends how you will use the instrument. If you are playing at high school or college (non-music major) level, plastic instruments are quite adequate. Recently manufactured "eefers" (plastic or wood) are better than their vintage brothers/sisters as the manufacturing techniques have improved (computer controlled manufacturing machines have made great progress in making the product very consistant). There are also some low priced wood instruments that are worth the small increase (Buffet E-11 at $875 or so) when compared to the plastic instruments.
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Author: Marie
Date: 2000-04-04 03:52
I'd suggest trying both wood and plastic ones out that are near the same price.
I don't own an Eb clarinet, but in my high school clarinet choir we had two Eb clarinets. There was a wooden one (can't remember that brand) and a plastic Vito. As the younger student I got "stuck" with the Vito and it ended up playing much better than the newer, wooden Eb.
You never know!
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Author: Guido
Date: 2000-04-10 11:53
Wood vs. plastic? Wood always wins. I usually play a Buffet E13 and much better players can't obtain a better sound from a - top of the gengre - Yamaha plastic study clarinet.
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Author: Dee
Date: 2000-04-10 12:45
Guido wrote:
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Wood vs. plastic? Wood always wins. I usually play a Buffet E13 and much better players can't obtain a better sound from a - top of the gengre - Yamaha plastic study clarinet.
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You are making an invalid comparison. All current plastic Eb clarinets are student grade instruments. The correct statement should be that intermediate and professional instruments are better than student instruments. You cannot say that wood plays better than plastic until you can compare a professional level wood to a professional level plastic or an intermediate wood to an intermediate plastic. At this time such a comparison on Eb clarinets can't be made since there are no professional or intermediate plastic Eb horns.
The quality of instruments is further masked by the fact that most people playing the student grade ones are using the stock mouthpiece (very poor), may not yet have developed the more precise technique (embouchure and breath support control) needed for the Eb, and may not know much about reeds. About the time they reach this stage of development, is when they invest in the higher quality instrument and they attribute the improvement entirely to the instrument, which isn't quite the case.
Anyway before you unilaterally state that wood is better than plastic, please show us the documented proof of a *PROFESSIONAL* level plastic clarinet versus a professional level wooden instrument. Of course you will have to have the pro plastic custom made since there are no Eb versions available right now.
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