 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: cottmj77
Date: 2021-03-06 09:17
Have anyone of you ever heard of Diamond Bass Clarinets? I have a band director friend who found one in his band room...
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Author: jdbassplayer
Date: 2021-03-06 16:38
It’s a Chinese instrument. It’s a copy of a Bundy similar to the very early Ridenour bass clarinets (the old student ones not the new ones he sells). Might play okay but be very careful with the keys as they are very soft on these older Chinese instruments.
-Jdbassplayer
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Author: cottmj77
Date: 2021-03-06 19:16
That is what we had thought, that it may be a ISO (Instrument Shaped Object is what band directors call instruments of lesser quality). I am just surprised that I cannot find ANY information about them ANYWHERE on the web.
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Author: clarnibass
Date: 2021-03-07 08:24
It's another brand name imported by someone, probably from China. I haven't seen a bass clarinet, but by complete coincidence, I have a few Diamond clarinets and trumpets here now. The logo looks exactly the same.
I looked and Diamond instruments are even sold new locally. At least clarinets and some others. I don't know if it's a local brand like most imported Chinese ones, or if the name originated elsewhere. We have both types here, though this doesn't mean anything anyway.
From the ones I have here I'd say they are average for cheap Chinese instruments. Not terrible but not particularly good. I have a couple of other Chinese clarinets, one called Glory and the others are Jupiters. It's pretty much in between, better than the former (but that one is terrible), but not as good as the latter.
A bit off topic but I checked the trumpets more than clarinets so far and something annoying is they have very non-standard sizes e.g. valve diameters, threads, etc. which makes them annoying and/or slow to repair. This might not be relevant to clarinets as much.
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Author: MichaelW
Date: 2021-03-07 17:33
"...one called Glory and the others are Jupiters":
"Jupiter", as fas as I know, is a Czech brand. The instruments, as they say on their web site, are manufactured in Taiwan:
https://www.jupiter.info/instrumente/holzblasinstrumente/klarinette/bassklarinette/1000-series-bassklarinette-in-bb
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Author: Chris P
Date: 2021-03-07 21:24
Jupiter is a Taiwanese company and has never been a Czech brand.
Amati is a Czech brand and is tenuously linked to Jupiter in that B&H and the B&H group used to import stencil instruments from both companies - Buffet Evette and later on the entry level Keilwerth saxes were made for them by Jupiter as were some flutes (Rudall Carte and B&H 400), then we have B&H 400, Artia and Lafleur instruments which were made for them by Amati as well as some entry level Keilwerth saxes.
Former oboe finisher
Howarth of London
1998 - 2010
The opinions I express are my own.
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Author: clarnibass
Date: 2021-03-08 08:07
>> "Jupiter", as fas as I know, is a Czech brand. The instruments, as they say on their web site, are manufactured in Taiwan <<
As Chris mentioned it's a Taiwanese company.
I don't see Taiwan mentioned in the link you gave, but last I checked, their clarinets are made in China (they have other instruments made in Taiwan, China and possibly other countries). Do you have a direct link to that, and do they say it about clarinets specifically?
Anyway it was just an example of something more known for comparison with the Diamond clarinets.
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Author: Steven Ocone
Date: 2021-03-08 17:45
While some Jupiter instruments are "made" in China, I expect that Jupiter has more control over the production and quality than most other companies. Some of the parts are most likely from Taiwan. This is a guess - I haven't talked to anyone at Jupiter about this.
Similarly, Yamaha has instruments that are "made in Indonesia" but I expect that all of the parts are made in Japan. Final assembly is labor intensive and expensive to do well. When Gemeinhardt switched to making its student flutes in China, the padding improved.
As far as Jupiter's bass clarinet goes, it doesn't nearly match the quality of their Bb soprano, but is better than other Chinese student models. Also they have a parts department in the US which is a big plus.
Steve Ocone
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Author: MichaelW
Date: 2021-03-08 19:10
https://www.jupiter.info/ueber-jupiter:
Hochwertige Blasinstrumente aus Taiwan
JUPITER ist eine Marke des taiwanischen Konzerns K.H.S. Musical Instruments Co., Ltd. Das Kürzel K.H.S. steht für Kung Hsue She, was übersetzt „Unternehmen, das Bildung und Kultur unterstützt“ bedeutet.
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Author: jdbassplayer
Date: 2021-03-08 19:35
My 1100s was marked “Made in China” and that’s the highest model. I would be very surprised if any of their clarinets are made outside mainland China. That’s not to say it was bad, in fact it was very good, almost pro level even.
-Jdbassplayer
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