 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: Misti
Date: 2006-04-03 04:40
Hello,
I've only played clarinet for one year and have a very nice Buffet R-13 Bb Clarinet. However, I am interested in purchasing an inexpensive A clarinet until I have a few extra $thousand to purchase a better one. I've found a Boosey and Hawkes A Clarinet on the internet (very cheap) and was wondering if anyone knew of the general quality of a Boosey and Hawkes instrument. The description says that it is an Edgeware wooden clarinet in A.
Any advice will be appreciated.
Misti
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Author: Chris P
Date: 2006-04-03 05:52
The B&H Edgware A clarinet was probably the only A clarinet in this class back in the '60s through to the early '80s - they were made in both wood as well as some in plastic, and the current equivalent is a Buffet E11 if you're wondering which model to insure it against.
They're pretty much the same as the Imperial 926, having the same bore and tonehole layout, tuning is reasonable provided you have the long barrel (67mm), and even with the long barrel the throat notes are a bit sharp so it's best to pull the barrel out 1-2mm to put the clarinet in tune with itself.
One thing is the keywork can sound like a typewriter, especially the LH little finger levers, but well maintained this shouldn't be a problem - and the tone is pretty good, with more weight and resonance in the lower register as all A clarinets have in comparison to their Bb counterparts.
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Author: David Spiegelthal ★2017
Date: 2006-04-03 15:05
I've overhauled/played many B&H clarinets, the majority of those being Edgware or Series 2-20 models, but also some other models (Imperial 926, Symphony 1010, Stratford, Series 8-10) and I think Chris' assessment is spot-on. They're all nice clarinets, similar in design and construction and difffering mainly in trim. They are ruggedly made (yes, a bit clunky keywork-wise, but this can be mitigated) and they use especially nice wood in their grenadilla models. I've also played some hard-rubber versions of the Edgware and 926 models and they play exactly like the wood ones, as far as I could tell.
Give it a go!
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Author: David Spiegelthal ★2017
Date: 2007-11-18 05:29
Monsieur Noteworthy, my comments (from a year-and-a-half ago) were in fact about the B&H Bb clarinets, as I've never tried any of their "A" models.
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