Author: tucker ★2017
Date: 2017-09-30 17:24
I took a HUGE leap of faith when I was in the market to buy a bass. Without spending a fortune in travel expenses to test the various brands, I was lucky enough to find a Uebel Emperior and snagged it sight unseen.
Here's an excerpt from Josh Johnson's blog about the 2014 Clarinetfest which helped sell me on a Uebel: "I finally tore myself away from the Superior and focused my attention on the Emperior bass. Now, I know what you're thinking...yes, it does indeed bear an uncanny and downright remarkable resemblance to the Buffet 1193 Prestige bass, and I can't argue with that. The keywork is, well, I won't say identical, but I won't argue with you if you say it.
However, two notes was all it took for me to assure you that it is NOT a copy of the Buffet. Uebel has taken the same wizardry they used on the soprano clarinets and applied it to the bore design of the bass. It plays with one of the most vocal sound qualities I've ever heard on a bass clarinet, and while the response all over the horn is excellent, the upper clarion is particularly beautiful and effortless. Haunting, even. The instrument was a fabulous match with my Ridenour Artist mouthpiece, and handled as nimbly in the basement as it did in the stratosphere. Written C7 was no problem on this beast. Victoria and I took it out into a stairwell away from the noise of the exhibition hall so I could really hear what I sounded like on it; I almost wish we hadn't. I have not been able to stop thinking about it since I left Baton Rouge. It was like an extension of my own voice, and it was very, very difficult to stop playing it."
If you can find one, definitely try one out!
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The Clarinet BBoard
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