 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: Gabi
Date: 2005-05-12 07:24
Hello, I've decided to begin with clarinet playing. Although having spoken with a lot of people, I'm still not sure which type to start with. I know that each brand has a certain fan club whose members say that it's the only right one... I need it just for fun. I will not enter any orchestra, just a band (jazz and other) with some friends. It has not to be a professional model. Nevertheless, I'd like to have one that is good enough to still enjoy it after having learned playing. I chose a wooden model because I prefer their sound. But then? A french recommended a Buffet E13 or LeBlanc Sonata. Are there any other types/models in that category?
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Author: David Peacham
Date: 2005-05-12 08:23
Yamaha 650 is the obvious alternative. I don't think there's a Selmer in that price-range; of the instruments available in the UK, there is a big gap between the cheap US Selmers and the expensive French ones.
I see you are from Germany. I assume you know that most classically-minded clarinet players in Germany use a different design of instrument. The instruments you mention are of the type used almost everywhere else.
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If there are so many people on this board unwilling or unable to have a civil and balanced discussion about important issues, then I shan't bother to post here any more.
To the great relief of many of you, no doubt.
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Author: senior
Date: 2005-05-12 11:40
Here is 3 links to clarinets made of a different material for the clarinet body. Hard rubber.
Worth a look.
http://www.ariosoband.com/
http://www.jinyinusa.com/Clarinet.htm
http://www.wonderway.com/
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Author: Synonymous Botch
Date: 2005-05-12 12:00
This is the perfect time of year to explore a brief, fixed term rental.
If you play through the Summer, consider purchase of a nicely refurbished secondhand instrument. The depreciation of new clarinets can be brutal.
If you give up the instrument, the resale value is often less than HALF of the original purchase price.
The E13 is a terrific instrument, but you may find it's "Grandfather", the Evette Master Model for less than $300 USD.
My personal recommendation is the Ridenour TR147, which is a hard rubber instrument made to a high standard of fit and finish (plays well, too)...
Check with your local music store, if they don't service a particular brand - DON'T BUY IT!
*******
Most of the mainland Chinese instruments fall on that "Will not repair" list.
PS - The Plastic Vito VSP is a good value, too...
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Author: DavidBlumberg
Date: 2005-05-12 12:32
The Buffet Model E-12 is very close to the E-13 and at several hundred $ less, it's a great choice. You can get the E-12 for around $1000 whereas the E-13 is more like $1600.
Not the B-12, but the E-12!
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Author: stevensfo
Date: 2005-05-12 12:56
Gabi,
I can strongly recommend the Hanson clarinets made in Britain. I started learning about 2 years ago and bought their cheapest model. At that time I knew nothing, but having since tried other clarinets, I can honestly say that they are absolutely amazing quality for the money.
Even the accessories that came with it were excellent: 2 barrels, a choice of a Vandoren 5RV or B45 MP, Vandoren reeds, B&G swab etc.
http://www.hansonclarinets.com/
Do a search to find reviews.
The customer support was excellent and I believe they offer a trial period and 3 year warranty.
>>You can get the E-12 for around $1000 whereas the E-13 is more like $1600.
Amazing difference. As far as I know, the only difference is the E-12's bell is plastic, not wood! I can think of lots of better things to spend $600 on!
Steve
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Author: Joel Clifton
Date: 2005-05-12 13:46
Vito 7212. I rented one for several years and then bought another one and played it for several years, and both were excellent.
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"You have to play just right to make dissonant music sound wrong in the right way"
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Author: Brenda Siewert
Date: 2005-05-12 14:33
The E-13 is an excellent instrument, if you find a good one. It has a very nice sound and has good key work. It would also last you as long as you wanted to play. You might look for a good used one if you go this route.
Or, you might visit our Bboard sponsor, Dr. Omar Henderson, and his new Forte clarinet specially made for beginners. An excellent choice, it would also carry you for years to come. Lots of experienced players are buying this instrument for outdoor work. Do a search for Forte clarinet and read all the good reviews he's gotten. He's also a terrific person!
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Author: GBK
Date: 2005-05-12 14:56
senior wrote:
> Here is 3 links to clarinets made of a different
> material for the clarinet body. Hard rubber.
> Worth a look.
Not worth a look.
The CSO's from mainland China will cause you major problems with their quality.
They are clearly a case of you get what you pay for ...GBK
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Author: Ralph G
Date: 2005-05-12 15:43
senior wrote:
> Here is 3 links to clarinets made of a different
> material for the clarinet body. Hard rubber.
> Worth a look.
My new rule of thumb:
If the pictures show the clarinet in its case with the reed attached to the mouthpiece, don't buy it.
________________
Artistic talent is a gift from God and whoever discovers it in himself has a certain obligation: to know that he cannot waste this talent, but must develop it.
- Pope John Paul II
Post Edited (2005-05-12 15:43)
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Author: GBK
Date: 2005-05-12 16:18
Clarinet purchasing Rule #23:
Never buy a clarinet named after a bird or a planet.
Clarinet purchasing rule #24:
Never buy a clarinet which looks like one of the primary colors.
Clarinet purchasing rule #25:
Never buy a clarinet whose name can by anagramed into a warning message:
example: "clarinet by Bestler" = "lyric treble? absent" ...GBK
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Author: David Peacham
Date: 2005-05-12 16:20
If you are in Germany, you also need to be careful about the pitch of the instrument. The internationally agreed standard pitch is A=440Hz. UK and US groups stick to this.
Many groups in continental Europe - including some major orchestras - play sharper.
To some extent you can tune a clarinet flatter by pulling out the barrel. You can tune it sharper by buying a shorter barrel. But the margin for adjustment is small; if you try to change the tuning by more than about 2Hz, the instrument will play out of tune with itself.
I strongly suggest you ignore the advice above about Ridenour and Forte clarinets, unless you are sure they will meet your pitch standards, and you can get them serviced locally. There is much to be said for buying from a local shop that will look after you, always assuming the local shop is a good one.
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If there are so many people on this board unwilling or unable to have a civil and balanced discussion about important issues, then I shan't bother to post here any more.
To the great relief of many of you, no doubt.
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Author: The Doctor ★2017
Date: 2005-05-12 17:01
(Disclaimer - I am the maker and seller of the Forte' clarinet)
The Forte' is manufactured by the old line CZ instrument maker Amati to our strict specifications. It is based on their European standard instruments and we had to design a customized barrel system to make it tune properly to A=440. In its normal configuration (minus the movement and adjustment of tone hole size and placement for general intonation purposes) it is designed to tune to A=442 and with the original factory barrel which it does very nicely. The major repair (springs, pads, corks, etc.) elements on the instrument are standard fare in any repair shop in the US or Europe as are the pad sizes. Their are many Forte's floating around in all areas of Europe and no one has complained about their ability to tune to A=442 if needed.
L. Omar Henderson
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Author: Gabi
Date: 2005-05-13 08:07
OK, thanks a lot for your advices, now I'll need a little time to think about them. (That doesn't mean you shall stop advising me...)
I know that most german players use the so-called "German" or "Oehler"-system. But I don't care about that because I have no ambitions to enter any orchestra. Nowadays there are even a few (but a very few) players in german orchestras who don't use the german system, but you are right, it's still preferred.
My husband starts at the same time learning sax, so we can play together later on. And as I said, we have a band of friends who play together just for fun once a week. So my wish is to enter there and just enjoy the music.
I wanted to learn clarinet playing for almost 20 years now, so I don't think I will give it up so soon. Now the time has come to "just do it" ...
Post Edited (2005-05-13 08:08)
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Author: Celeborn
Date: 2005-05-17 22:45
"Amazing difference. As far as I know, the only difference is the E-12's bell is plastic, not wood! I can think of lots of better things to spend $600 on!"
I have an E 12, and the bell is definitely wood, not plastic.
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Author: stevensfo
Date: 2005-05-18 07:30
>>I have an E 12, and the bell is definitely wood, not plastic.
Sorry, I must have been thinking of the difference between the E10 and E11 instruments.
The Buffet homepage says:
"The E12 has the same features as the E11 but the bore gets a special treating that makes it more sophisticated."
http://www.buffet-crampon.com/instruments_details.asp?ID=103
Any idea what that means?
Steve
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Author: Mark Charette
Date: 2005-05-18 10:51
stevensfo wrote:
> The Buffet homepage says:
>
> "The E12 has the same features as the E11 but the bore gets a
> special treating that makes it more sophisticated."
Finishing school?
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Author: stevensfo
Date: 2005-05-18 11:52
>>Searching the archives, you would have found that we had this "sophisticated" discussion before:
http://test.woodwind.org/clarinet/BBoard/read.html?f=1&i=60357&t=60357 ...GBK
Hmmm, a discussion?
I think the expression "special treating that makes it more sophisticated" is marketing talk for "excuse to put the price up"!
Steve
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Author: DavidBlumberg
Date: 2005-05-18 15:11
Fact is that the key work is slightly different. The E-11 has a smaller low right hand key setup.
The E-12 is full size. Yes, I think that is really goofy too.
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Author: Gabi
Date: 2005-05-20 13:05
I saw an australian clarinet under
http://www.studentinstruments.com.au/sivenclarwd.php
some days ago. Brand "Venus" with corpus made of redwood. Any experiences with that?
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Author: David Peacham
Date: 2005-05-20 13:20
This instrument was discussed a few months ago - search the BB for redwood and you'll find it.
Nobody had played one, and nobody seemed keen to try.
The standard advice is: until you really know what you are doing, only buy the major brands. If you want a wooden Boehm instrument, that means Buffet, Leblanc, Yamaha. Possibly Selmer, but, as I said in my original post, I'm not sure whether they produce a relatively inexpensive wooden instrument.
I'd also reiterate the advice I gave above: try to buy locally rather than over the Internet. Many will disagree with me on this point; I can only say that I have been very glad to have the services of a good shop to sort out minor issues with the instrument.
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If there are so many people on this board unwilling or unable to have a civil and balanced discussion about important issues, then I shan't bother to post here any more.
To the great relief of many of you, no doubt.
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Author: DavidBlumberg
Date: 2005-05-20 14:29
I saw an australian clarinet under
http://www.studentinstruments.com.au/sivenclarwd.php
some days ago. Brand "Venus" with corpus made of redwood. Any experiences with that?
-----------------------------
Australian company but the Clarinet is made in china
nuff said.........
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Author: Mark Charette
Date: 2005-05-20 14:49
DavidBlumberg wrote:
> Australian company but the Clarinet is made in china
>
> nuff said.........
Is "nuff said"? How do you know? Have you played one? Are they equivalent to the Jupiter or better?
You might be right ... but why speculate?
I'm clueless as to whether these are any good. Does someone really know?
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Author: Brenda Siewert
Date: 2005-05-20 15:16
Forget Venus and stick with the suggestion to steer clear of all clarinets named after planets.
You might add the Forte to the Selmer, Buffet, Leblanc, Yamaha list. It's a quality beginning instrument with the excellent tuning barrel and great mouthpiece set up.
If you want wood a Buffet E-11 is a good deal for any beginning player.
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Author: DavidBlumberg
Date: 2005-05-20 20:02
I wouldn't think that they could compare to the Jupiter wooden clarinet as those are known to be pretty good.
"A beautiful and well-engineered instrument with a natural redwood finish, precise fits and perfect round tubing resulting in less turbulence and smooth air flow."
I'd have to see it to believe that
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Author: Gabi
Date: 2005-05-23 11:05
David Peacham wrote:
>until you really know what you are doing, only buy the major brands.
This seems to be a good advice. I can always try exotic models later on, but first I need an instrument that is good enough to take pleasure in learning.
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