 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: clarimad
Date: 2012-01-10 07:01
Were there any decent Amatis wooden clarinets made? Am I correct in thinking they were very much basic student instruments?
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Author: Barry Vincent
Date: 2012-01-10 08:08
Amati Klaslice have been making good quality clarinets from beginner to intermediate grade since the end of the communist years. During the communist era Amati had a not so good reputation for shoddy keywork and unstable wood. Since then , the quality has greatly improved.
I have two Amati Klaslice instruments , Bb (ACL 605)and A (ACL 675) full Boehm clarinets and I find both of them excellent instruments so I'm assuming that both of these are 'post ' communist era.
In fact , the Amati full boehms are probably the cheapest way of obtaining this type of Clarinet. They also of course make the standard keywork Clarinets.
They even make the G Alto Simple System (Albert) for the Greek and Turkish folk clarinetists as well as the C soprano and Eb pitch (both the Sopranino and the Alto)
They have a internet site which is worth looking at.
More about the Amatis' can found searching this site , the Clarinet BBoard.
Take care buying on eBay, they can be a 'mixed bag'.
Perhaps I'm being a bit harse in my judgment of the Amatis' during the 50/60s because it stands to reason that they must have been producing some good quality instruments back then as well. They were and still are a large company producing not only woodwind , but also brass instruments as well. They had at least three large factories in the Czech Repuplic. I've heard it mentioned somewhere that even Boosy & Hawkes subcontracted out to them for the production of their lower end instruments, such as the Regent (Beginners grade)
Others on this forum could no doubt fill out with more detailed information.
Skyfacer
Post Edited (2012-01-10 08:13)
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Author: Chris P
Date: 2012-01-10 08:34
B&H Regent instruments were made by B&H in the UK, the Regent II clarinet was made by Schreiber (which was previously the Evette) and then became the Buffet B12 since the mid '80s.
B&H imported Amati instruments from the '60s right up to the late '90s or early '00s which were stamped at various times as Arita (bassoons and oboes), Lafleur (woodwind and brass) and B&H 400 (woodwind and brass).
Corton instruments which were Amati stencils were also being imported at the same time, but they were distributed by Rosetti in the UK. Some other Amati stencils were Lignatone, King Lemaire and Musica Steyr, but there were more besides depending what country imported them.
Have a look at their website to see what instruments they make: http://www.amati.cz/en/
Former oboe finisher
Howarth of London
1998 - 2010
The opinions I express are my own.
Post Edited (2012-01-10 08:36)
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Author: Barry Vincent
Date: 2012-01-10 09:11
Thanks for the correction Chris. it's never straight forward is it.
Getting back to the actual Amati clarinets, I had an interesting experience a number of years ago when I was in Melbourne. I visited the Lamberti musical instrument store there and had made up my mind to buy an Amati Eb Alto Clarinet (wood). They had 4 available for my inspection and they all looked lovely. The only problem was not one of them was in playing condition ! I mean , they were totally unplayable ! One would have thought that as these were brand new instruments the least one would expect was to be able to play them right out of the case.
I came to the conclusion there and then , that Australia was being used as a 'dumping ground' for seconds.
I walked away with the money still in my pocket.
Skyfacer
Post Edited (2012-01-10 09:13)
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Author: bethmhil
Date: 2012-01-10 16:12
I don't know very much about them, but a friend of mine has the Amati bass clarinet that goes to low C. It plays wonderfully and has a beautiful tone, but the neck is extremely sensitive to any pressure-- even when she knew that whoever handled the instrument needed to be very careful with the neck, she was taking it apart and the neck broke in half.
BMH
Illinois State University, BME and BM Performance
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Author: SteveG_CT
Date: 2012-01-10 16:41
bethmhil wrote:
> I don't know very much about them, but a friend of mine has the
> Amati bass clarinet that goes to low C. It plays wonderfully
> and has a beautiful tone, but the neck is extremely sensitive
> to any pressure-- even when she knew that whoever handled the
> instrument needed to be very careful with the neck, she was
> taking it apart and the neck broke in half.
>
The neck broke in half as in a solder joint let loose or as in the tube kinked and bent? A failed solder joint may not be that big of a deal but if the tubing of the neck is thin enough to buckle during normal assembly and disassembly that is a real problem.
Any idea how old this bass was? I seem to recall hearing that Amati really stepped up their quality in the past decade.
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Author: bethmhil
Date: 2012-01-10 20:48
I wasn't with her when it happened, but the area just above where the neck goes into the bass clarinet (almost the highest point of the curve) was where it was broken. The metal was somewhat twisted looking when it was broken-- I mean, it wasn't a clean break by any means, so I'm guessing that the metal was thin and malleable enough to break. She got the instrument when she was a senior in high school, so three years ago approximately. A instrument repair technician was able to fix it without a lot of problems, and it hasn't happened again.
Perhaps it is a similar issue to bassoon bocals breaking...??
BMH
Illinois State University, BME and BM Performance
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Author: tictactux ★2017
Date: 2012-01-10 21:02
I remember Amati instruments being on the sturdy side. I've had several B&H 400s, Cortons and "proper" Amatis from both before and after the "wall fall", and they were comparable in construction (but not in workmanship).
My first instrument was a post-commie 211 and I had it for five years without so much as a hiccup or a single pad failing. Still have a full-boem with a very nice sound.
If you plan to by a new instrument, put another $100 aside for post-sales tweaking by your favourite repair person, and you get a good instrument at a very competitive price.
--
Ben
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Author: Hurstfarm
Date: 2012-01-10 22:56
I was surprised to find myself leaving Howarths of London the owner of an Amati 354S C clarinet, having expected to buy a Patricola, for occasional orchestral and chamber music use, at more than 3 times the price. The best of the 3 Amatis I tried, coupled with a professional mouthpiece, was such a close match for the Patricola, and even a Buffet Prestige, in terms of tone and tuning across the range, that I bought it - albeit with some trepidation, and partly as an experiment. The silver plated keys are well designed. Downside was that there were a couple of "woolly" notes, and some rather rough and ready workmanship on the cork and felt damping, which was conspicuously inferior to the Patricola or Buffet. However, with some work on regulation, venting, a couple of re-set pads and a bit of cosmetic re-finishing, a few months later I find I have a free-blowing and surprisingly desirable-looking instrument, which does everything I require of it, while a large slice of the money I might have spent remains in the bank!
Howarths speak highly of the bass to low C as a serious alternative to the Buffet:
http://www.howarth.uk.com/pic.aspx?pic=./wo/Amati%20Bass%20Low%20C.jpg&pid=986168
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Author: Carol Dutcher
Date: 2012-01-11 01:08
My clarinet, a Buffet R13, is in the shop right now having a tune-up. I got out my Amati which I bought several years ago from a very desperate lady to help her pay vet bills. Inspection reveals it to be an ACL 605. I don't know the year but a package of reeds in the case had 1978 printed on them. I wanted more information on the horn so I wrote to the Amati website at the time. Their response was to try and sell me a brand new horn, so I have never been able to get any history on this one. Anyhow, long story short, the Amati plays beautifully, I put the B45 mouthpiece on it that I always use. I appreciated reading the input on these horns. I will be playing it tomorrow night and though I find the fingering a little tricky, it just takes practice!
Thanks!
Carol
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Author: Chris P
Date: 2012-01-11 05:19
The only problem with the Amati bass is the low D, Db and C keys aren't linked to the rest of the mechanism as they are with Buffet, Selmer and Yamaha basses, so you have to hold the low Eb key down in order to get these low notes. The older Selmer low C basses (pre C-series) were the same, as are the Leblanc low C basses.
Former oboe finisher
Howarth of London
1998 - 2010
The opinions I express are my own.
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Author: clarnibass
Date: 2012-01-11 07:04
>> Amati 354S C clarinet <<
I think that's the model that is almost identical to the Forte C clarinet (AFAIK no longer made). I've tried both the forte and the equivilant Amati and found many problems with them. Intonation not good enough, not so even across the range, mechanical issues, some chipped tone holes, less than great padding, etc. I wish this wasn't true because I own the Forte. I didn't expect either to play and be made as well as a model costing several times more, but my criticism is in comparison with its price, not in comparison with other models.
>> The only problem with the Amati bass <<
I've tried the Amati bass (both low Eb and low C) and found more thna a few problems with them. Overall, I have to disagree with the post above that it is anywhere near a serious alternative to the buffet (or selmer) models.
I have a full review of the low C bass on my website and also a review of an Amati Bb student model.
Low C bass http://www.nitailevi.com/reviews/clarinets/amati/amati_bass_acl691.htm
ACL-211 http://www.nitailevi.com/reviews/clarinets/amati/amati_acl211.htm
Reviews are not in English but you can try Google translator.
Post Edited (2012-01-11 07:28)
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Author: Chris P
Date: 2012-01-11 07:26
Have to admit I had a good look over the mechanics but didn't actually play the Amati bass, so I can't say if it compared to a Buffet or not - I'd hazard a guess it doesn't, but should be a perfectly workable bass at that price just as their contrabassoons are perfectly decent instruments for the price. And as always, expect to shell out a few thousand more for a pro model.
Former oboe finisher
Howarth of London
1998 - 2010
The opinions I express are my own.
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