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Re: Ridenour Questions

Author: SteveG_CT
Date: 2011-07-21 03:48

TJTG wrote:

> Does anybody have points to make against his line of
> instruments? He seems very keen to hard rubber. But if the
> properties he describes, regarding the substance, are so good,
> why don't more 'top tier' companies use the material?
>
> It all seems to be too good to be true. For the price of a new
> Prestige Bb and A from Buffet, I could get myself a C, Bb, A,
> and basset clarinet from Ridenour for nearly half the cost.
> Ridenour himself explains his reason for low prices, and the
> reasoning for higher prices in the big name companies. If this
> were the case, why don't more professionals gravitate towards
> him?
>
> I suppose, more than anything, I'm looking for other people's
> input.

The argument has been rehashed many times on this forum. My personal opinion is that the primary reason why the larger makers don't offer professional clarinets made of hard rubber is that they don't think they could make as much profit off of them as they can with wood clarinets. Many clarinetists seem to consider hard rubber and plastic to be materials suitable only for student or intermediate level instruments and are willing to pay a premium to have a wooden instrument. I believe it is this willingness to pay more for wood is the primary reason why most clarinets are still made from it instead of more dimensionally stable materials.

As for why more professionals don't gravitate to Ridenour I'd say the biggest reason would be that most clarinetists don't change instruments very often. Most of the professional and semi-professional clarinetists I know have been playing the same instrument for a decade or more. Ridenour just hasn't been around long enough to gain much market share.

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