 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: susan
Date: 2000-02-04 20:02
Is there a preference between an old or new wooden clarinet? What are the benifits of each?
Waht are the opionins on a Normandy 4 from the 30's or 40's in good condition?
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Author: Kristine
Date: 2000-02-05 00:07
I personally find older clarinets to be much much better than the newer ones..Older clarinets were made with much more care and the wood was better..now they are just mass produced and that care for the clarinet craft is just not there. The better wood aids in that rich sound. Honestly I am not familiar with the Normandy...I know the Buffet line, so I can't help you there..
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Author: M. Brand
Date: 2000-02-05 01:42
Is there a preference between an old or new wooden clarinet? What are the benifits of each?
Waht are the opionins on a Normandy 4 from the 30's or 40's in good condition?
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Oh boy another which one is better question.
The answer is: "the one that works best for you". Some of the older clarinets can be great. For example, I play a 1955 Buffet R-13 which I just love. However, I just happen to love old clarinets. Yuo gotta be careful cause some of them can be real dogs (e.g. try an old wooden Pedler...Woof Woof!).
Conversely, I have played some new model instruments which I thought were wonderful. Most of the major brands I have tried seem to play very well, including the student models. In general they seem easier to play in tune.
As for the Normandy 4, assuming the condition is fine, it should be a decent intermediate model. I have an old Normandy 10 (not sure what the different numbers mean) and it plays pretty well.
Have someone you can trust check out the Normandy. Often these older clarinets are cracked or in poor condition and require significant work to put into top playing condition. Take it to a qualified technician for evaluation. If you are buying from a store, see if they will let you try it out for a week or so. If "you" like it, great.
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Author: Willie
Date: 2000-02-05 05:48
True, there are some great old clarinets out there in wood, plastic and even metal. But, there are also a lot of real clunkers also. One example is the Pan American. It is impossible for even a pro to lip those things in tune.
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Author: J. Butler
Date: 2000-02-05 16:33
I've never bought a new clarinet in my lifetime, and some of my students think that I'm "older than dirt" as the expression goes. I think that there are some great deals on used clarinets out there IF you research the different clarinet brands. I also have the advantage of being able to fix them up and know what defects to look for before I plunk the cash down. If you aren't comfortable with buying used, then you should buy new by all means.
J. Butler
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Author: Lelia
Date: 2000-02-08 15:53
Asking whether old clarinets are better than new ones is kind of like asking whether senior citizens are better than kids. Which senior citizens? Which kids? And, better for what?
My favorite Bb clarinet is a 1937 Buffet, but because it's a wide-bore instrument, the tone quality might not quite fit in with modern R-13s in a modern ensemble where the director wanted uniform sound from all the clarinets in the section. Some old instruments are built to different pitch standards than instruments today. A "high-pitch" clarinet can be in perfect condition and a wonderful instrument, but no way will it play in tune with modern ones. Some old instruments are in such bad shape they're not worth repairing. Others have nothing significant wrong with them and play like champs. Some old clarinets were cheap junk from the day they were manufactured. Age won't improve them. Some clarinets made today are cheap junk, too, however, and the fact that they're *new* cheap junk doesn't make them better than the *old* cheap junk. And so forth . . . . It's impossible to generalize just on the basis of age.
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Author: Meri
Date: 2000-02-09 19:05
Advantages of buying new instruments:
-will be covered under warranty
-better key placement/design (sometimes)
-you can try several instruments
Disadvantages of buying new:
-price (especially for professional-grade instruments)
-the instrument has to be 'broken in'
-the wood may not be as good as in older instruments
Advantages of buying used instruments:
-instruments are already broken in
-price (a good used professional level instrument can be found at or below the price of a new intermediate)
-they have already been selected as good ones from the pack (sometimes)
-quality of the wood may be better than in new instruments
Disadvantages:
-little or no chance to compare instruments
-no warranty
-you may have to get it repaired or overhauled (but on a good number of instruments, it's still worth the expense)
-difficulty in finding a used one
Just an anecdote: I paid less for my 1968 R-13 ($600 CDN + $125 overhaul) than most of the other clarinet players in my college band (most are playing on intermediate-level instruments, which they paid anywhere from $800-$1200 CDN), and yet I still prefer my instrument--and the other clarinetists in my college band like my instrument better than theirs! (but none of them know how much I paid for mine--but I still think they paid too much, given the grade of instruments they are playing)
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