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Author: CocoboloKid
Date: 2014-02-16 00:21
bbillings, I very much understand the hesitation to purchase products of Chinese origin, as I have had much the same fears over the years, but I have to say that I am very impressed with what Mr. Ridenour has done with his latest incarnation of the Lyrique bass clarinet. I play one every day, 8 shows a week (twice on Saturday and Sunday!) in the national tour of the Broadway revival of West Side Story, and I have not once been let down by the instrument. I made the decision to purchase it because I did not want to subject a 10K wood instrument to the rigors of touring life (pits are hazardous places, and we're just wrapping up a six-week stint in Alaska and Canada, where at one point, our entire orchestra gondola came off the truck encased in ice), and I specifically did not want to buy a Greenline bass for the exact issues that have been discussed in this thread. I have seen entirely too many Greenline tenons sheared off (especially in pits), and it just seemed a very expensive risk to take.
I play a fair amount of bass clarinet in the show, much of it exposed solo work, and much of it in unison with either a cello or bass...the intonation of this instrument is absolutely fabulous, and the sound is rich, powerful, and it plays very smoothly all the way up into the upper altissimo. I will say that the keywork of course is not exactly on par with the Selmer Privilege or the Buffet 1193, but for almost a quarter of the price, how could it be? I would love to see a redesign of the basset mechanism, but on the whole, I've had no problems with adjustment since we started the tour back in October. The keywork is much improved from the soft metal that was the chief complaint in the earlier incarnations of the instrument, and all the linkages are very solid. It isn't the fanciest looking keywork, and the thumb key arrangement is not my favorite, but it certainly gets the job done. In fact, of all the instruments I play in the show, it is the one I worry about the least.
Knowing Tom's work as I do (I have been a longtime player of the Leblanc clarinets he designed in the 90s), I have no doubt that future models of the Lyrique bass will continue to improve mechanically. It really is a viable alternative to the Greenline, though, and much more budget friendly, particularly for the casual bass clarinetist. I'm sure he'd send you one to try for a while just to form your own opinion of it, if you'd like :-)
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saxlite |
2014-02-01 00:48 |
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Paul Aviles |
2014-02-01 01:05 |
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saxlite |
2014-02-01 01:15 |
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Paul Aviles |
2014-02-01 01:30 |
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Tony F |
2014-02-01 03:25 |
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Wes |
2014-02-01 10:16 |
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clarnibass |
2014-02-01 12:04 |
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cyclopathic |
2014-02-01 12:20 |
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tictactux |
2014-02-01 15:54 |
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Steven Ocone |
2014-02-01 17:06 |
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Chris P |
2014-02-01 17:14 |
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Caroline Smale |
2014-02-02 01:17 |
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pewd |
2014-02-02 01:33 |
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Chris P |
2014-02-02 01:45 |
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Gordon (NZ) |
2014-02-03 03:48 |
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saxlite |
2014-02-03 09:03 |
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Gordon (NZ) |
2014-02-03 13:38 |
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Paul Aviles |
2014-02-04 23:22 |
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saxlite |
2014-02-05 01:53 |
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Chris P |
2014-02-04 21:27 |
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Paul Aviles |
2014-02-05 07:57 |
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clarnibass |
2014-02-05 03:56 |
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Gordon (NZ) |
2014-02-05 16:04 |
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Paul Aviles |
2014-02-05 16:07 |
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Garth Libre |
2014-02-05 17:52 |
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BobD |
2014-02-05 18:08 |
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Chris P |
2014-02-05 19:13 |
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Gordon (NZ) |
2014-02-05 21:44 |
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Jerry |
2014-02-08 00:06 |
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GeorgeL |
2014-02-05 14:14 |
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Paul Aviles |
2014-02-05 21:06 |
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Chris P |
2014-02-05 21:16 |
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tictactux |
2014-02-05 21:27 |
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Gordon (NZ) |
2014-02-05 21:33 |
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Chris P |
2014-02-05 22:23 |
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saxlite |
2014-02-06 03:39 |
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Chris P |
2014-02-06 00:45 |
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saxlite |
2014-02-06 05:58 |
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Chris P |
2014-02-06 14:12 |
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saxlite |
2014-02-06 20:15 |
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Chris P |
2014-02-06 20:45 |
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saxlite |
2014-02-10 09:34 |
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Gordon (NZ) |
2014-02-12 16:22 |
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bbillings |
2014-02-14 20:27 |
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kilo |
2014-02-14 17:48 |
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BobD |
2014-02-15 01:36 |
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kilo |
2014-02-15 05:34 |
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Gordon (NZ) |
2014-02-15 17:02 |
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BobD |
2014-02-15 12:14 |
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bbillings |
2014-02-15 18:22 |
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Gordon (NZ) |
2014-02-16 09:27 |
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bbillings |
2014-02-15 18:26 |
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Re: repair broken greenline clarinet |
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CocoboloKid |
2014-02-16 00:21 |
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saxlite |
2014-02-16 05:10 |
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Gordon (NZ) |
2014-02-16 09:31 |
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saxlite |
2014-02-16 09:45 |
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kilo |
2014-02-16 08:15 |
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bbillings |
2014-02-17 00:01 |
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Gordon (NZ) |
2014-02-17 19:14 |
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bbillings |
2014-02-17 23:30 |
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BobD |
2014-02-18 12:39 |
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Mark Charette |
2014-02-18 13:19 |
The Clarinet BBoard
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