 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: Koo Young Chung
Date: 2010-03-17 14:29
Anyone has played Barrington clarinet or saxophone?
I'd like to know the build quality and if there is any intonation issues.
Thank you.
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Author: Chris P
Date: 2010-03-17 15:22
Barrington = CSO.
'Nuff said.
Former oboe finisher
Howarth of London
1998 - 2010
The opinions I express are my own.
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Author: BYUone
Date: 2010-03-17 19:27
I believe the Barrington is a stencil of the Amati clarinets and saxophones.
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Author: GLHopkins
Date: 2010-03-17 19:38
WWBW has a picture of a Barrington clarinet. It has jump trill keys. From what I can tell it looks like it might come from the same factory that makes Ridenour's clarinets. I don't know about the saxophone. It's really hard to tell about these things unless you get one in your hands to inspect. It's not a clarinet that I would be excited about. It's only a matter of time before a really decent clarinet comes out of China. If people continue to buy the cheaper Chinese CSOs what is the incentive for these makers to come up with anything better?
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Author: tictactux ★2017
Date: 2010-03-17 20:11
> I believe the Barrington is a stencil of the Amati clarinets and saxophones.
Nah, the Barringtons scream "Asia!".
--
Ben
Post Edited (2010-03-17 20:11)
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Author: BobD
Date: 2010-03-17 20:42
Well, Ben, there you go. Must be the barley risotto. I bought a Barrington Soprano Sax from Woodwind and it was a pleasant surprise. I t plays decently and the workmanship is better than at least one Taiwanese sax I am familiar with. In fact it plays about the same as my older Yanagisawa. In my opinion the Barrington sop sax is worth what Woodwind is charging for it.
Bob Draznik
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Author: BobD
Date: 2010-03-17 20:55
With all due respect I think it's time to retire the term "CSO". Anyone who has acdual experience with any of the lesser known instruments would do us a favor by indicating the origin of manufacture and/or their observations. Simply parroting the CSO term doesn't serve any purpose. In today's market I wonder where parts for our major clarinet marketers instruments are coming from and how much of the assembly is being done on heretofore "hallowed" ground. Next horn you purchase or consider purchasing ask where it was made.
Bob Draznik
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Author: tictactux ★2017
Date: 2010-03-17 21:46
Bob - I didn't to imply that just because an instrument screams "Asia!" it means it's bad. Just that they aren't Amatis.
--
Ben
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Author: stevensfo
Date: 2010-03-17 22:28
-- "With all due respect I think it's time to retire the term "CSO". Anyone who has acdual experience with any of the lesser known instruments would do us a favor by indicating the origin of manufacture and/or their observations. Simply parroting the CSO term doesn't serve any purpose." --
I agree with this. Much as I enjoy this forum, there are times when I feel I am in the Starship Enterprise's Holodeck or in an endless time loop, re-living the same posts over and over again.
Let's break out of this loop and raise our expectations a little higher.
A few more scientific and educational posts would be nice. If you feel that a clarinet is inferior, say why, post pics, post mp3 files and do a comparison.
Steve
PS Who will be the first to post some mp3s of a piece played with their 650$ MP and their 6$ MP and let the forum members decide? :-)
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Author: leonardA
Date: 2010-03-18 02:49
Don't know about the clarinets, but I played a Barrington alto sax once and it played prettty well and sounded pretty good.
Leonard
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Author: reddog4063
Date: 2010-03-18 04:17
In my glory days quite a few "big 4"s sat behind my CSO. It's all relative.
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Author: clarnibass
Date: 2010-03-18 08:13
>> With all due respect I think it's time to retire the term "CSO". Anyone who has acdual experience with any of the lesser known instruments would do us a favor by indicating the origin of manufacture and/or their observations. <<
Yes, the Asian (non-Japanese) woodwinds improved so much in the last few year and it's a different world almost. In the past, the names weren't especially meaningful but people didn't really know how the whole system worked. Now the names are either more established or more random, but sometimes impossible to know. The importers who make up the names can order from any one of many different places and many different quality of instruments.During some years it was usual for woodwinds from China and Taiwan to be or worse. It is much les clear now, with very decent and good instruments from those countries.
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Author: Ursa
Date: 2010-03-18 09:48
clarnibass wrote:
> >> With all due respect I think it's time to retire the term
> "CSO". Anyone who has acdual experience with any of the lesser
> known instruments would do us a favor by indicating the origin
> of manufacture and/or their observations. <<
>
> Yes, the Asian (non-Japanese) woodwinds improved so much in the
> last few year and it's a different world almost. In the past,
> the names weren't especially meaningful but people didn't
> really know how the whole system worked. Now the names are
> either more established or more random, but sometimes
> impossible to know. The importers who make up the names can
> order from any one of many different places and many different
> quality of instruments.During some years it was usual for
> woodwinds from China and Taiwan to be or worse. It is much les
> clear now, with very decent and good instruments from those
> countries.
Food for thought...I recently purchased a new USA-made Leblanc 7250 (rebadged Vito V-40) and it was a total disaster: a 1mm raised spiral in the bore from the top of the upper tenon down to the throat A hole, blobs of plastic in the bore around the thumb tube, and three 2mm air bubbles on the inside of the bell, along with a LH F/C lever that barely moved.
Nobody would accept this level of shoddiness even in the cheapest Chinese horn. Disgusted, I sent the horn back and declined a replacement.
Not only are the horns from "over there" improving, I sure have to wonder if at least one of the big four have been tempted to build theirs down to the level of the bargain-basement competition. I can only hope the horn I got was the occasional inexplicable clunker.
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Author: Lelia Loban ★2017
Date: 2010-03-18 12:47
I've never played a Barrington clarinet or saxophone, but I did examine a new Barrington sax at the International Saxophone Symposium this past January. I tried to listen to someone who did play it, but the dealer room was so noisy that I have no idea how that sax sounded! It seemed to be reasonably well put-together, but my one caveat about it was the extremely thin gauge of the metal. It felt lightweight and flimsy to me. I'd be concerned that this sax would dent if you gave it a hard look, and that almost any dent would go through to the bore, where the projection into the bore would cause honking or intonation problems. Dent repair can be expensive, depending on the location and complexity, and on thin metal, dent removal is not always entirely successful.
Caveat: all the new saxes I've picked up lately feel lightweight to me because I'm accustomed to playing on saxophones from the 1920s, probably quite a lot heavier than they need to be. However, the other Chinese-made saxes at the Symposium were also very lightweight compared to the French and American saxes. A good bass sax player in a local band played standing up with his new, Chinese-made bass on a neck strap, the first time I've ever seen anybody support a bass with nothing but a neck strap. He was a big guy, but even so--!
Lelia
http://www.scoreexchange.com/profiles/Lelia_Loban
To hear the audio, click on the "Scorch Plug-In" box above the score.
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Author: BobD
Date: 2010-03-18 12:47
Regarding the Vito: I have no idea where the Vitos are being made these days since the Kenosha plant closed. But I really doubt that your new horn was made in the USA. Vito will roll over in his grave if he hears about this.
Bob Draznik
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Author: Lee
Date: 2010-03-18 20:43
Greg recalled: "I recently purchased a new USA-made Leblanc 7250 (rebadged Vito V-40) and it was a total disaster:"
This then was a CSO which as I understand describes the quality of the instrument rather than its source. In recent years most of these came from China, etc. but the term is still good for describing someyhing thats looks like a clarinet but shouldn't be used for anything other than decorating.
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Author: BobD
Date: 2010-03-19 14:39
I disagree. We all know that the term was meant to demean anything made in China.......
Bob Draznik
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Author: GLHopkins
Date: 2010-03-20 00:08
Clarinet shaped object seems appropriate for many of the clarinets made in China in the last decade or so.
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