 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: RAL
Date: 2015-05-07 23:16
I travel a lot and would like to have a cheap clarinet to bring with me and not lose practice time.
Any advice?
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Author: Gunthos
Date: 2015-05-07 23:56
Around January my son was going to quit clarinet. We decided to give it one more shot and get him a better clarinet, so I spent time looking for reviews and on amazon. He's much happier with his new clarinet! (I bought him a Rico X-5 too, so that could be why he plays better)
We decided to buy, for $200, a Legacy CL750, which was getting good reviews on amazon. We definitely like it, but what do we know . Our instructor did say it sounded good and that we got a good bargain. Also his homeschool youth orchestra teachers like it fine too.
That said, in 5 months we did have a issue when a spring came out. I was able to put it back in. Recently a key got stuck, the teachers were able to fix it. It this because it's too cheap? My son does not take good care of it, though.
On Amazon, for $260 LJ Hutchen Mark 2 gets good reviews. For $125 Hisonic 2610 gets good marks.
These may be cheaper than what you were looking for.
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Author: Mark Charette
Date: 2015-05-08 00:34
I had a Vito 7414 as a clarinet for quite some time (The 7212 is, essentially the same clarinet). Virtually indestructible, not expensive (since you have to get used) and MUCH better build and tone than most of the new but (too) cheap clarinets on amazon. It will benefit greatly from a good mouthpiece. I used a fobes debut on it and was happy for what it was.
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Author: Chris P
Date: 2015-05-08 01:10
Look on eBay for a used plastic Bundy/Buescher, Vito/Normandy, Artley/Armstrong, Buffet B12/Evette or Yamaha as these are far better than any brand new cheapo Chinese clarinets. They will most likely require work to put them into good playing order, but as long as they're not seriously damaged (ie. snapped tenons), then they will make for a decent travel clarinet.
Former oboe finisher
Howarth of London
1998 - 2010
The opinions I express are my own.
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Author: Paul Aviles
Date: 2015-05-08 01:32
Vito and Yamaha for sure. You can probably pick up either for $300 all day long. And they are actually really good playing horns.
The Buffet B12 is the worst ever made don't even think about buying one of those.
.............Paul Aviles
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Author: Tony F
Date: 2015-05-08 05:17
Don't waste your money on a cheap Chinese instrument from Amazon, they're a completely unknown quantity. The reviews are not worth a great deal, they're written by people who don't appear to know much about clarinets. One praised the instrument for being shiny but made no mention about tuning. Buy a used Vito, Yamaha or Bundy, get it put into playing condition and it will play for years.
Tony F.
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Author: Ed
Date: 2015-05-08 05:24
I find the Yamaha student models to play really well- even and in tune with decent response. They would be a top pick for me.
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Author: gwie
Date: 2015-05-08 19:38
I would also recommend the Yamaha plastic models, they are extremely consistent and the fit/finish are excellent. The current entry level models are the YCL-255 and the YCL-200ADII.
If you have a few more dollars to spend, I also highly recommend the Backun Alpha. I just started playing one a few weeks ago and I'm really impressed with it. It plays and feels much more like their higher-end models than the usual "plastic, student" clarinets. The one I have has silver-plated keys and traditional pads, and I purchased it from Kessler Music at a great deal (~$600) because it was a store demo. I had to make some adjustments on it, but it was well worth the purchase. Traveling with it is great because the case it comes in is tiny, but still very functional.
I think the Ridenour Lyrique is an excellent choice too, but at this point they are at the $1000+ range.
Post Edited (2015-05-08 19:49)
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Author: TomS
Date: 2015-05-08 21:54
Find a used Ridenour RCP-146. The student line Yamaha play well and sound great, but on the sharp side ...
Tom
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Author: RAL
Date: 2015-05-08 23:11
I see Ridenours 147 and not 146 in Ebay? Same thing?
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Author: RAL
Date: 2015-05-09 01:17
One of the things I realize after looking at gwies's post is that a small case would be a must...
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Author: Lelia Loban ★2017
Date: 2015-05-09 20:02
>>Vito and Yamaha for sure. You can probably pick up either for $300 all day long.>>
I'm an amateur, but fwiw, I agree that these are excellent choices. If you go snuffling around at the flea markets instead of dealing with reputable sources, the going rate for a Vito in good condition by flea market standards is $45 to $55 in the Washington, D. C. area. Figure that your final cost will be higher, because a flea market Vito might need some refurbishing, such as some new pads (especially on the register key). Bumper corks on the undersides of keys might be missing and that sort of thing. But if you know clarinets well enough to spot and avoid buying any instrument with a problem that would be seriously expensive to fix, such as a missing barrel or a missing or broken key, then you can probably end up with a good Vito for a total of under $200 or even a whole lot less than that.
For people with smaller hands who may find Vitos a bit uncomfortable, consider used Bundies from the 1980s and 1990s (before the company re-branded the Bundy as American Selmer). I've been quite surprised by these because when I first started playing, in the late 1950s, the Bundies of that era had (and deserved) a bad reputation. Something good happened in the 1980s. Used Bundies sell at the flea markets for about the same prices as Vitos. The disadvantage with those late Bundies is that they're made of shiny plastic that screams, "Plastic!" from a distance -- but in my experience, they're decent players if you can compensate for wide 12ths.
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Update: I came back to this thread after reading another thread, started by someone who'd bought a used clarinet that turned out to be a "marriage" of parts from different brands of instrument. When advising people to look for used clarinets, I should remember to warn that places like flea markets and thrift shops are only good for experienced players, such as the person who started the present thread.
Lelia
http://www.scoreexchange.com/profiles/Lelia_Loban
To hear the audio, click on the "Scorch Plug-In" box above the score.
Post Edited (2015-05-11 16:25)
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Author: Chris P
Date: 2015-05-10 03:30
Older Buffet B12s and plastic Evettes are well made clarinets - better made than the more recent ones and they don't have those nylon pins in the ends of the LH levers and also have a fixed metal thumbrest that won't break.
And you can even find them for around £50 in the guise of the B&H Regent II which has a slightly different bell shape (like the B&H Regent which it replaced).
http://i.ebayimg.com/00/s/NzY4WDEwMjQ=/z/FoMAAOSwVFlT53AB/$_86.JPG
Former oboe finisher
Howarth of London
1998 - 2010
The opinions I express are my own.
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Author: Barry Vincent
Date: 2015-05-10 03:57
I have two fantastic plastic Clarinets, the Jupiter JCL-631-11 and the W. Schrieber 6010 (with silver plated keys and wrap around register key)
The Jupiter is apparently very similar to the student plastic Yamaha and has excellent intonation and sound (when matched to a good mouthpiece) and the same goes for the Schrieber but I think it's been discontinued. They are my two 'knock-about' Clarinets.
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Author: Chris P
Date: 2015-05-10 04:47
Oh yeah, I forgot about the Jupiter.
There you go - add Jupiter 631 to the list.
Former oboe finisher
Howarth of London
1998 - 2010
The opinions I express are my own.
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Author: RAL
Date: 2015-05-12 00:39
Thanks for all the advice. I just won a bid for an allegedly "almost new" Jupiter clarinet for US$ 102.
Hopefully it will be in the mentioned state...
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