 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: mmatisoff
Date: 2020-09-23 03:28
Does Yamaha make an "intermediate" bass clarinet? I've been playing for a number of years (Bb and Bass) and would like to move up to an intermediate model.
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Author: jdbassplayer
Date: 2020-09-23 05:41
They do not.
Instead of getting an intermediate bass, I would recommend looking at either a used professional low Eb model like a Selmer 30 series or an older Buffet or Yamaha, or I would go with a new Kessler or Ridenour.
I would avoid any “intermediate” basses like the Noblet as while they are decent they only have a single register vent, which makes them not much better than a Yamaha or Selmer student model.
-Jdbassplayer
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Author: David Spiegelthal ★2017
Date: 2020-09-24 01:01
I own one, and have played several other, single-register-vent bass clarinets that inexplicably played/play better than many supposedly pro-model double-vent basses. The rule of thumb does not always hold.
That said, I've never played a Yamaha bass at any level that I liked. Personally I'd take a decently set-up Noblet over the several "pro" Yamahas I've tried. One thing every stock Noblet needs is to have the neck re-angled; maybe not quite to the sharp angle of the later Bay necks, but somewhere around 35 degrees seems optimum to me. The stock Noblet mouthpiece angle is too horizontal, as with most older-design instruments.
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Author: Chris P
Date: 2020-09-24 21:43
Strange how older bass clarinet crooks have the mouthpiece angle almost horizontal when alto clarinets have them more vertical (except for Leblanc altos with the longer S-bent crook).
I recently found a Selmer Series 9 bass crook on eBay for £20 which I snapped up in a heartbeat - they have a shallower angled crook compared to Buffets and newer Selmers. Then made a new (narrower) tenon and crook key fashioned from a scrap alto sax crook key (and relocated the pillars to put them central instead of offset) so I can use it on my Buffet bass which has a very steeply angled crook. It raises the instrument off the ground a bit more which is useful if using low chairs. It can be reverted back to original Selmer spec should I need to as it's only a matter of resoldering the original tenon back on and moving the pillars back to where they were.
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Bass-Clarinet-Neck-/184410176684?_trksid=p2047675.l2557&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&nma=true&si=Y%252BJ0Qi%252FEgqZjl1XCTrYBHZH%252Ba0E%253D&orig_cvip=true&nordt=true&rt=nc
Former oboe finisher
Howarth of London
1998 - 2010
The opinions I express are my own.
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Author: David Spiegelthal ★2017
Date: 2020-09-25 05:58
Chris, that may be a generic Chinese-made neck, of which I've purchased two in the past several years - they are actually decent, play well with the bass clarinets for which I bought them (usually with some modifications needed to the register vent key to make it work with the mechanism on the instrument body). I paid $80-$90 US for those two.
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Author: clarnibass
Date: 2020-09-25 13:46
>> they have a shallower angled crook compared to Buffets and newer Selmers. <<
Newer Selmers can still (AFAIK) come with the shallower (37 model) neck instead of the sharper angled one.
There is a "legend" that Buffet also makes (or used to make, some years ago) a shallower angle neck. I've tried buying it from several Buffet dealers which looked into it for me. I eventually ordered it and the neck got to the store... only to find it is a regular neck. Buffet themselves said they have the shallower neck and then shipped a regular one. So although a few sources claimed it exists... I'm skeptical. I've never seen one and don't know anyone who has seen one (other than the less angled neck on some older Buffet bass clarinets).
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Author: HANGARDUDE
Date: 2020-09-28 10:16
Nitai: I've certainly seen some Buffets with a shallower neck, but I seem to get the impression was that they were custom made for individual players rather than as an off-the-shelf product like the open-style Selmer necks(nor like what Buffet has mentioned to you). Apart from that I have NEVER seen any current models of Buffet basses having such
Here's a video Rocco Parisi & his bass with a lower angled neck(I know him personally, and he told me that Buffet made several customizations on his horn):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RY47HeaKGDk
Davide Lattuada of the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra also has a similar neck:
https://www.facebook.com/RCOclarinet/photos/a.243924482437523/728638903966076/?type=3&theater
I personally play a Selmer Privilege Low C bass with the open style neck which I much preferred than the steeper neck(pretty similar that of the Buffets). When I tried the Buffets to get best sound I needed to tilt the whole instrument backwards so the mouthpiece angle is about midway between the original steep angle and that the open Selmer neck's. However, keep in mind that I have a 2mm underbite so that might affect what works best for me.
In addition to that, I've seen at least one Selmer 37 with the older style neck that has an even lower angle than the current open style ones, perhaps nearly as flat as that of a tenor sax, and it is way too shallow for me!
Josh
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Author: clarnibass
Date: 2020-09-29 12:38
>> I've certainly seen some Buffets with a shallower neck, but I seem to get the impression was that they were custom made for individual players rather than as an off-the-shelf product <<
Yes it's definitely possible they make them occasionally as a special order. In both of those photos it looks like the outer part was changed. Hard to say if it's the same because of the angle of the photo/video. Looks about 85 in the video and maybe 75 in the photo, as a very rough guesstimate. Might be the same, with just the camera angles confusing it. The original is about 60.
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