Author: m1964
Date: 2019-08-14 03:12
jeeves wrote:
"I noticed on a couple Spanish sites (maybe other European countries too, I didn't check), equivalent model clarinets seem way cheaper...
What am I missing?"
Hi Jeeves,
You are not missing anything.
The clarinets are cheaper in Europe vs. USA.
Three months ago, we went on vacation to Amsterdam. I was able to buy a R13 Prestige from a small shop near Amsterdam for much less then I would pay in the States. In fact, I would not be able to afford to buy it here.
It helped that another store was running a sale on the R13 Prestige, so the shop where I went matched their sale price.
Downside: after three day of playing, I noted that it became somewhat difficult to assemble and disassemble the middle joint (and I only played 15-20 min. a day then).
I contacted the shop and they told me that they would take the clarinet back if I did not want it any more, or I could fix it locally since the repair was not a complicated one.
Since I know a good tech, I had him fix the problem- he shaved the tenon of the upper joint slightly.
After three more days of playing, the middle joint and the upper joints became tight, so I had the tech to check the clarinet again- this time he found the insides of lower joint and barrel sockets to be slightly out of round so he fixed that.
The tech said that all new clarinets, not only Buffets, have this problem - the wood is unstable and changes shape when you start using a new clarinet.
Anyway, at the end of the day, I believe that it was worth to have those small troubles with the new clarinet because it sounds better than my old R13.
Because we went to Amsterdam on vacation, we only spent about $30-40 to get to the shop, which is located in Edam, 30 min. bus ride from Amsterdam.
The town of Edam is a tourist attraction, anyway.
However, I do not know if it would make much sense financially if I went to Europe purposely to buy a clarinet.
If you can afford to charge your credit card a few thousand dollars, you can order 2-3 clarinets online, with the stipulation that you can return the one(s) you do not like.
Most of the shops in Europe (UK, Holland,, France) have very similar prices.
Shipping to the US is about $100-150, and the same for return shipping so ordering 2-3 instruments online and returning 1-2 of them could be cheaper then flying to Europe and spending money on food, transportation and possibly on one night in a hotel.
No jet lag either.
my 2p
PS
A bass clarinet player in a band I am with recently bought a new LeBlanc bass that developed the same problem- the tenon "swelled up" making it very difficult to take apart esp. after the rehearsal.
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The Clarinet BBoard
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