 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: Kim
Date: 1999-02-26 23:04
I am looking for an intermediate clarinet at a good price and at good quality(I cannot spend much on it). I found a new Jupiter clarinet at a great price,$125,and I want to know if it is a good quality clarinet(what I mean by quality is, I want one that doesn't fall apart. I am in 7th grade and I am planning to play all the way through college, so I want one that will last). Please help me!!!!! FAST!!!
Thanks,
Kim
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Author: Amy
Date: 1999-02-26 23:25
I don't have any experience with Jupiter clarinets, but I have heard that it is not good brand. I don't exactly know what is wrong with them, but you know what they say...You get what you pay for. You can barely buy a good new plastic clarinet for 125 dollars so a good intermediate clarinet at that price is pretty much non existant. Unless you find a used one and the seller doesn't know what they have or it is in great need of repair. You should definitely stick with one of the four major clarinet manufacturers...Buffet, LeBlanc, Selmer, or Yamaha.
What kind of instrument are you playing now? What are your reasons for buying a new clarinet now? What kind of mouthpiece and reeds are you using? If you have a working plastic clarinet now then I would say that if you don't already have one get a good mouthpiece(i.e. Hite Premier, Fobes Debut, Vandoren B45) and stay away from plain Rico reeds.
Since you want to continue through college, you should definitely have at least a good wooden intermediate clarinet(if not a professional one) when you get there and I doubt that any college clarinet professor would recommend a jupiter clarinet. However you probably don't need to buy a new clarinet this early in your clarinet career. Save your money and wait until you have enough to get a good one. For about $600 you can buy a new Buffet E-11 which is one of the good intermediate instruments. If you want to be really ambitious wait until you have about $2000 and you can buy a new Buffet R13 or LeBlanc Concerto(both professional instruments). You could also get a used professional instrument for around $1000 or less.
Anyway, don't jump into any thing yet and when you do make sure you try lots of different instruments to find the one that suits you best. Even instruments of the same brand can sound different.
Amy
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Author: Kim
Date: 1999-02-26 23:46
Thanks Amy. I need a new clarinet because I am playing a plastic one right now and I want a better quality one. I also wanted to know if a Selmer 100 is a good instrument(found one for $175)?If not, what about a Selmer 210($350) or a LeBlanc Normandy 4($200). My band director told me that a Selmer Series 10 or a Buffet RV13 are good proffessional instruments(I can't afford them right now). By the way I found these instruments on www.ebay.com an auction site. The Jupiter clarinet also had a 1 year warranty and I would have 6 weeks to try the instument out. It was also wood( you probably already knew that ).
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Author: Amy
Date: 1999-02-26 23:58
If you plan on playing this instrument through college, I don't recommend buying it off of ebay because most of the sellers don't know enough about the instrument to tell if it is in good playing condition. It would not do you much good to buy an instrument from there and have to completely overhaul it which would cost about $200-300 extra. How much are you willing to spend? Try looking in the Woodwind and Brasswind catalog(www.wwandbw.com). They have pretty reasonable prices and if you decide you don't like it you can send it back. Also you might want to try a music store if you have one locally. They will probably let you try some instruments out.
The instruments that you described above are low end intermediate instruments and if you are serious about majoring in clarinet in college you should really have a professional clarinet or at least a decent intermediate clarinet. If you want to buy a new clarinet go ahead, but buy a good one from someone reputable.
Amy
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Author: Kim
Date: 1999-02-27 00:11
I am willing to spend up to $300 dollars. I don't have any more money than that. I made that off of selling AVON and I am using the rest to go to New York with student council.
Thanks
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Author: Mark Charette
Date: 1999-02-27 01:27
Kim,
The Jupiter clarinets, at least at the low end where you're looking, do not have a reputation for being blessed with longevity. I've never heard of their high end ...
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Author: Dee
Date: 1999-02-27 04:12
Kim, I would recommend that you check all your local band instrument stores rather than risk buying anything off the auction. For one thing it is an auction, buyer beware and all that. Secondly, you can not SEE or TOUCH the item until you receive it. Thus a seller who is unfamiliar with instruments may sell you (in good faith) something that is in very sad shape. You may end up facing a couple of hundred dollars in repairs to get it into proper playing condition. Third you have to be high bidder, you may lose at the very last minute to someone who is willing to go higher. It's not a set price deal.
For $300, I think you should be able to find a good used intermediate Selmer, Leblanc, or Buffet at one of your local band stores. The good stores want to have satisfied customers and have you come back for accessories and standard maintenance so will stand behind even a used instrument. You should also check newspaper ads in your area. With a local seller you can see the instrument before you buy it. Here though you should try to protect yourself by having a technician of your choice evaluate the condition of the instrument for any repairs or maintenance that may be required before you actually purchase it.
Yes, there are good deals on eBay but if you can't afford to lose your money on a deal that could turn out to be a lemon, then its not worth the risk. With your limited resources, it is far wiser to work with a reputable dealer in your area (or even one of the better mail order dealers). A similar warning would be true for buying pawn shop instruments. You can find good deals but only if you have the experience to estimate what repairs would cost to bring it into good playing condition.
Yes I would buy off eBay, but as a working adult with a good paying job, it's not a catastrophe if I make a mistake and end up with a lemon although I would be very upset. Also I could afford to have one completely overhauled if need be.
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Author: Rick2
Date: 1999-02-27 04:13
More regarding ebay. If you buy from ebay, absolutely expect to have the horn overhauled completely. I've never heard of anybody buying an instrument from ebay that didn't need at least a little work.
Check your your local pawn shops. At least you can touch the horns there before you buy and see what kind of repair jobs they need. You might get lucky and find one that has reasonable pads only needs a few adjustments. The shop in Albuquerque where I bought my backup horn won't even buy a clarinet if it needs pads. Again, though, it's cavaet emptor, and the pawn borkers usually DO know what they have.
Patience is probably your best frined. If you can wait one more year and sell another year of AVON, you'll probably have enough to buy a used professional clarinet by then. The older pro models (that are just as good as the new ones in most cases) can be had for $800 or even less.
Or here's another idea, see if your parents will help you buy a decent clarinet then you pay them back in installments.
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Author: Merry
Date: 1999-02-28 00:13
I don't know about Jupiter woodwind instruments but their lower end brass instruments are terrible. Our band bought a lot of Jupiter cornets a few years ago, now they are virtually unplayable as the valves stick continuously. Jupiter woodwind instruments may be better (they couldn't be much worse), I believe their flutes are OK, maybe their clarinets are too.
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Author: Albert
Date: 1999-02-28 02:44
Did you say you found a Selmer 100 Special? If it's anything like a Signet 100 Special, you've found an intermediate clarinet. Selmer makes Signet (the company). I have one of these and I think it works pretty well. Wonderful, actually. So I have to ask everyone on the BB if the Selmer 100 is the Signet 100.
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Author: Kim
Date: 1999-02-28 21:55
Yes, the Selmer 100 is the same thing as the Selmer Signet 100.
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Author: Nicole Y.
Date: 1999-03-01 00:09
Allo!
(Whoops, I've got Spanish class on the brain!)
Hello,
I would not get the Jupiter. I too have heard that they are not the best in quality. If you want to get an intermediate clarinet, you could look on ebay. BUT, if you do this, remember that you are taking a risk and need to bombard the seller with questions.
Nicole Y.
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Author: Rich C
Date: 1999-03-01 20:12
My first clarinet was a Jupiter, and I can say from experience that it was not very reliable, it broke down several times within its first year. I now use it as my marching band clarinet...it barely works now (7 years later). I am considering sending it to retirement and making it into a lava lamp
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