 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: joe423
Date: 2013-08-19 22:07
This summer I went to a music camp and learned bass clarinet. It was the first time I have played it before and I really liked it. I want my own of now of course! I play in orchestras and need something that plays well and can play in tune. I am a high school student and don't have that much money to shell out on one. What are some good suggestions that I should be looking out for? I have a complete maximum of $1,000 but I don't even really want to pay that much. $600 would be ideal but I don't know if that is reasonable. Also, mouthpiece setups would be a help to! I was thinking of buying a Bundy and just getting a really good mouthpiece setup. Any suggestions? Thanks for any input!
1975 Buffet R13 Bb Clarinet
1968 Buffet R13 A Clarinet
Pyne Clarion Mouthpiece
Vandoren V12 3.5 Reeds
Vandoren Optimum Ligature
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Author: Ed Palanker
Date: 2013-08-20 00:22
You're not going to find a "good" bass clarinet for !K. Even a decent used instrument will cost much more than that. You will have to settle for a student model. I'd suggest you than try several Selmer C* mouthpieces and choose the one you like best. There are many good mouthpieces but it's all a matter of personal taste. I've had many students use the C*, including myself, so if you try several you can find a good one. Most mail order stores will send you 3-4 on a trial bases, once you find a bass clarinet of course.
ESP eddiesclarinet.com
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Author: joe423
Date: 2013-08-20 01:38
So what i'm getting from this is that i'm crazy for thinking I can get a good bass clarinet for a thousand dollars :P So for the amount of money I have to spend my option is to get a student model bass clarinet such as a Bundy in decent mechanical shape? Is that even possible for 1K?
1975 Buffet R13 Bb Clarinet
1968 Buffet R13 A Clarinet
Pyne Clarion Mouthpiece
Vandoren V12 3.5 Reeds
Vandoren Optimum Ligature
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Author: tictactux ★2017
Date: 2013-08-20 05:46
Can't do much wrong with a used Bundy/Vito/Yamaha/Jupiter - HOWEVER, many that pop up with a price tag within reach may be badly abused school instruments. Sure, they're less finicky than professional instruments (due to less complex keywork), but they still need to be in proper repair to perform satisfactorily.
When buying such an instrument (I did so for ~$300) you should earmark at least another $300 to have it serviced.
My advice is to wait some more weeks until school has properly started and the first "quitter" instruments land on That Auction Site.
--
Ben
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Author: SteveG_CT
Date: 2013-08-20 05:58
joe423 wrote:
> So for the amount of money I have to spend my option is to get a
> student model bass clarinet such as a Bundy in decent
> mechanical shape? Is that even possible for 1K?
>
You should be able to find a used student bass clarinet in your stated price range. I've found that ~$750 is the price point where you can start to find instruments in decent playing condition. You may want to contact David Spiegelthal ( http://test.woodwind.org/clarinet/BBoard/profile.html?f=1&id=195 ) as he often has freshly overhauled bass clarinets for sale at reasonable prices.
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Author: William
Date: 2013-08-20 17:10
A friend of mine just purchased this bass clarinet from Tom Ridenour. It is a fine sounding and well in tune instrument that plays very comparable to my ultra-pro level Buffet Prestige low C bass, but at a third of the cost. The big advantage is the low C range and the double octave mechanism that makes the upper register play easier. Give it a look and for more info, give Tom a call. http://www.ridenourclarinetproducts.com/lowcbasspage.html
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Author: clarnibass
Date: 2013-08-20 17:58
I wouldn't say you can only get a "good" instrument for more, or just a used Bundy for that price. IMO a used Bundy/Vito/etc. is good, or it can be if in good condition. It's just not as good as some other models.
The Ridenour might be a third of the cost of some instruments, but it's three times more than the absolute maximum the OP wants to spend... for this price, personally I'd look for a used Buffet or Selmer low Eb which should be significantly cheaper (usually). FWIW I haven't tried a Ridenour but I have tried several current Chinese bass clarinets.
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Author: Chris P
Date: 2013-08-20 18:13
How about renting a bass clarinet for the time being? Or rent-to-buy a bass clarinet? There must be somehwere you can rent one from.
Former oboe finisher
Howarth of London
1998 - 2010
The opinions I express are my own.
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Author: Lelia Loban ★2017
Date: 2013-08-20 20:18
As an advanced amateur on clarinets in general but new to the bass, I'm delighted with the used 1994 American Selmer (i.e. Bundy) I bought a couple of months ago. It cost me a less than joe423's maximum. I think Bundy and American Selmer basses from the 1980s and 1990s play a lot better than the Bundy sopranos a lot of us remember unfondly from days of yore.
Most student-quality basses sell to the schools. Those instruments have to be sturdy and they must meet the standards, not of innocent parents, but of the band directors who chose what to buy. I own a Bundy contra-alto as well, and I'd defend that as a good clarinet -- not the ultimate, to be sure, but good.
However, in order to find an affordable, fairly modern plastic bass that I could play outdoors, I prowled the usual sources for several years. Whatever standards those instruments met coming out of the factories, used plastic basses *in good condition* are hard to find. Most of the plastic basses I saw for sale at flea markets, live auctions and junktiques shops over the years were old, beaten-up school instruments. Often they'd been cannibalized for parts. Good luck finding a replacement for that register key someone's taken to replace the broken one on another clarinet. (I could tell these were school instruments because the cases had "property of" school stencils. On the positive side, I could tell they weren't stolen from the schools. Sometimes a "released by" stencil overlay the "property of" stencil, but regardless of the stencils, cases *and* basses looked so clapped-out and stank so badly that I don't think even a crackhead would steal them.) I think the band directors gave up on repairing these wrecks over and over and finally talked their districts into tossing the junk into buyer-beware, get-rid-of-'em school auctions.
If you must buy from an online auction, sight unseen except for photos, I recommend you look at those photos very carefully (make sure you can see every key -- a photo from an odd angle may mean somethin's missing), ask plenty of questions and try to find a bass being sold either by an individual owner-player (or ex-player) or by a dealer who specializes in musical instruments and has a good feedback record. I'd be leery of school auctions or those dealers who buy mass quantities of miscellaneous stuff at auctions, especially if they're "storage wars" scavengers, unless I could examine the goods first-hand.
Lelia
http://www.scoreexchange.com/profiles/Lelia_Loban
To hear the audio, click on the "Scorch Plug-In" box above the score.
Post Edited (2013-08-20 20:25)
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Author: bbillings
Date: 2013-08-20 22:07
I was able to purchase a used Yamaha-221 over the summer in fine shape for $1k. The person was asking $1600 and I found it on Cra***list. I thought it a fair offer for both of us and I put $50 into it to have it looked over and have the register key tweaked by someone qualified. Took some persistence on my part to find it but I was certain that I wanted the Yamaha because it was a 5 piece instrument with a nice case and considered by many to be a fine student horn. I wasn't completely committed to playing bass and new I could resell it by school time for the same or more locally and on an auction site if need be. As a caveat, I live in a major metropolitan area which makes shopping local for more obscure items easier (important because I got to inspect the item). It plays very easily for me and I'm quite satisfied, going to play it in the community band this year for fun. I suspect I will buy a used professional bass in the future but I may not have to, this one can be played better than I currently play it. I'll have to wait to see how it tunes with the rest of the band which is my only real concern at this time. After consulting a couple of knowledgeable people about how to start I got several pieces of good advice: A) Find a very good mouthpiece, B) Find the proper reed strength & C) learn to adjust the reeds a bit because they can warp more easily than a soprano reed. Over all it has been a relatively easy transition and has actually improved my soprano playing as well. Best of luck in your search, should be able to be accomplished.
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Author: Pastor Rob
Date: 2013-08-21 21:05
Since you are not too far from Niles, MI, I suggest you give Scott Kurtzweil a call. I got a Leblanc mpc from him with that he refaced to the same facing as a Selmer C*. I tried three and they all played great. One third the cost of a new mpc will allow more for the bass and its servicing needs.
Pastor Rob Oetman
Leblanc LL (today)
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Author: GeorgeL ★2017
Date: 2013-08-22 15:53
So far, only one person has mentioned reeds. My recommendation is to forget wood; use artifical reeds. A lot of moisture goes into the bass clarinet neck that will condense and come right back toward the mouthpiece. I started with wood reeds that would get waterlogged in 20 minutes. That has not been a problem since I went artificial.
I have no idea how to choose the ideal reed other than to try them. I use Bari, Fibrecell and Legere bass clarinet or tenor sax reeds with equal success, assuming it is the right strength and is in the right position on the mouthpiece. And if the reed does not work well on the bass clarinet, there is always a chance it will work on my tenor sax.
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Author: tictactux ★2017
Date: 2013-08-22 16:03
hmm...waterlogged reeds aren't such a problem in my experience, and it's not limited to cane, I salivate just as much on synthetics.
Easy enough to remove the neck (with the mouthpiece still attached), empty it discreetly (look at the french horn players, they do that all the time) and re-attach the neck. No big deal.
--
Ben
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Author: David Spiegelthal ★2017
Date: 2013-08-22 20:43
What Ben said, but it's even easier -- just leave the neck attached and tilt the whole instrument, the moisture will escape between the reed and mouthpiece facing, I do it frequently while playing, maybe every couple of minutes. Just don't pour it on your foot or your neighbor :(
If you don't care how you sound, use a synthetic reed, but you'll still get condensation in the instrument no matter what.
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Author: tictactux ★2017
Date: 2013-08-22 22:59
tilting a bass clarinet requires some space and dexterity (so as not to knock over other people's music stands)...sure can do, but the neck alone is more discrete and better in crammed venues. :-)
--
Ben
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Author: David Spiegelthal ★2017
Date: 2013-08-23 14:01
Does require dexterity, but not much space. The problem with removing the neck each time (and it only applies to corked-tenon necks) is that you'll compress and wear out the neck tenon cork very quickly. This concern of course doesn't apply to metal-sleeve tenon necks such as Ben's Jupiter, or Vitos/Bundys/Yamahas.
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Author: Chris P
Date: 2013-08-23 14:33
If you've got a tuning slide on the crook (eg. Buffet, Selmer and Yamaha pro basses), you can just remove the end section with the mouthpiece still attached to tip the water out.
Former oboe finisher
Howarth of London
1998 - 2010
The opinions I express are my own.
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