Author: David Peacham
Date: 2006-08-15 18:50
To answer your question: the plastic Yamaha is the YCL250, the wooden ones are the YCL450 and YCL650, then come the pro models, which are out of your price range. They all have a very good reputation for quality and consistency, but the Buffet instruments have more snob value.
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A wooden clarinet needs to be looked after. If your daughter is going to put it away without drying it, or leave the case in the sun, or play the instrument outdoors in less-than-perfect weather, she's better off with a plastic clarinet.
If she continues to play, sooner or later she'll probably want an expensive (> $2000) wooden instrument. If you buy the YCL450, E11 or similar, it will be pretty much redundant if/when she upgrades. If you buy the YCL250, B12 or similar, it will always be useful to play outdoor gigs in cold weather and to take on vacation.
But why not take you daughter to the shop and let her play some instruments? She's not a beginner - she's entitled to her opinion. Make her play the cheaper instruments first, telling her that's all you're willing to pay for. When she's made her choice, then offer her the chance to play some more expensive ones. If she insists the more expensive ones are better, get her to demonstrate why they are better. Don't let her play the expensive ones first, or she might cheat!
Note that she should use her familiar mouthpiece to test each clarinet, not the mouthpiece that comes with it. Otherwise she may reject a perfectly good clarinet because it comes with an unsuitable mouthpiece.
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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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