 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: Paul Aviles
Date: 2020-07-20 13:36
https://wurlitzerklarinetten.de/?lang=en
No.
Actually this brings up a few interesting points. Even if high end manufacturer put out an inexpensive product for the masses, it wouldn't make it anything more or less than an affordable student horn........no matter what name was emblazoned upon it.
Then there is the issue of the material of which the clarinet is made. The hard woods used for most professional clarinets are picked in large part because those woods are able to hold the posts (which are screwed in) in place without movement under stress (often with sprung keys working against the direction of threading.
It would be possible (though probably not practical) to put in $14,000 worth of workmanship into a plastic clarinet that sounds just as good as any wood clarinet. But it would cost $14,000.
.................Paul Aviles
Post Edited (2020-07-20 13:50)
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Author: Jeroen
Date: 2020-07-20 14:55
Matt74 wrote:
> Is this the same firm that makes the fancy German clarinets?
No, definitely not made by the Herbert Wulitzer company
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Author: jdbassplayer
Date: 2020-07-20 16:11
As you suspect these are just Vito clarinets with a different name. Unfortunately "Wurlitzer" is a very common name for clarinets. There were also Fritz Wurlitzer clarinets, which are well built and valuable instruments, and Clemens Wurlitzer clarinets, which should actually be called "Lemon Wurlitzer" given their quality...
-JDbassplayer
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Author: Chris P
Date: 2020-07-21 01:28
That is a Vito stencilled Wurlitzer - made for the American Wurlitzer company who were famous for their harps, pianos, theatre organs, electric pianos and juke boxes.
Former oboe finisher
Howarth of London
1998 - 2010
The opinions I express are my own.
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Author: David Spiegelthal ★2017
Date: 2020-07-21 04:25
What Chris said. It's a Vito. When I was in middle school my parents rented a "Wurlitzer" bass clarinet for me, it was in fact a plastic Vito.
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Author: alanporter
Date: 2020-07-21 05:55
So, what's wrong with a Vito ? I have a Vito Bass and I find it pleasant to play. But there again, I am not a snob.
tiaroa@shaw.ca
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Author: Paul Aviles
Date: 2020-07-21 06:18
Ok, that's cool. Let's all take a deep breath.
Vitos are decent horns. In fact I recently did a run of "Annie" on a Vito low Eb bass that was perfectly lovely.
My point, probably not well crafted, was basically that you get what you pay for (taking the law of diminishing returns into account). If you need a little higher quality and do not find the added expense too burdensome.......then it is worth it.
Also just because Buffet sells inexpensive student horns with their name on it, doesn't mean you're getting an R13 for $1000.00 US dollars.
I assumed that the original post implied that you can buy a much higher quality horn for really low money just based on who made it.
.................Paul Aviles
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Author: ISM
Date: 2020-07-21 06:27
Alan,
Nothing wrong with it at all. I’ve never tried the bass clarinet version, but I still have the Bb soprano Wurlitzer that I started on the better part of 50 years ago. It’s a good student instrument. Better I think than the Selmer 1401 that I once tried and about as good as a Yamaha student clarinet.
Imre
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Author: Chris P
Date: 2020-07-21 15:20
Vito clarinets are built like tanks.
Former oboe finisher
Howarth of London
1998 - 2010
The opinions I express are my own.
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Author: Matt74
Date: 2020-07-22 10:52
I was just curious... It was obviously not a “connoisseur” horn, but you never know about these things.
*I* like Vitos a lot, but try to tell that to parents who only ever hear “Yamaha” and “Buffet”. I know why they get recommended, and that’s ok, but it’s a shame the LeBlanc clarinets are undervalued IMO.
“Diversity” doesn’t really apply to horns - like “I think it’s great we all play different horns because we all sound so different, and it really adds texture and character and personality to the section.” Or, “Hey, why don’t we get somebody to play one of those crazy German models?” Or, “You know I think we have too many Buffets and Vandoren mouthpieces, everybody sounds exactly the same.” Or, “Dude. I’m really digging that rich Vito SOUND.”
- Matthew Simington
Post Edited (2020-07-22 11:25)
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Author: MichaelW
Date: 2020-07-22 15:14
I'm sure that none of the German Wurlitzers (P.K., Fritz, Gerhard, Clemens, Arno...) ever built "plastic" clarinets. As far as I know the US Wurlitzer firm (the brand above all known for their organs) is only remotely related to the above mentioned.
- Is the thread title "Wurlizer" (sic!) just a typo or is the instrument indeed marked like that? In this case I'd suppose a fake like e.g. the infamous "Yama".
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Author: Matt74
Date: 2020-07-22 20:37
LOL! I knew there was something wrong! I kept looking at it, and it didn’t look right, but I was checking the vowels and they kept coming out correct. I kept checking, but it kept coming out right. It just never looked any better, but I couldn’t figure out why....
- Matthew Simington
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Author: Chris P
Date: 2020-07-22 23:08
Even with the missing T, I'd imagine a native German speaker would probably still pronounce it the same given how they say the Z.
I had a Wurlitzer C melody back in the '90s and sold it in the early '00s. It was one of the American makes - probably a Conn and had opposing bell keys.
Former oboe finisher
Howarth of London
1998 - 2010
The opinions I express are my own.
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