 The Clarinet BBoard
|
Author: john gibson
Date: 2001-07-30 19:01
Alright....have to admit....I too search ebay for those elusive "deals". Wondering though...see a lot of Heimer and Henkin clarinets.....the Henkin appear to be reasonably well made horns...at least in the ebay photos....I'm not in the market for either the Heimer or Henkin....but was wondering who makes them...where they're from.....and are they any good?
john gibson
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: willie
Date: 2001-07-31 02:01
I'm not that familiar with Hiemers but I did get a Henkin for my daughter to replace her old Vito when it got smashed.. It turned out to be a pretty good horn and has played well now for about 5 years. I found out it was the brain child of one of the Conn employees, but I don't know if Conn actually made it. If they did, it is better than their own line IMHO.
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Anji
Date: 2001-07-31 13:42
Dollars to donuts,
If you don't recognize the name, it is likely an East European horn (hit-'n-miss) or coming out of China.
The Taiwanese stuff is improving rapidly (witness the Jupiter flute).
The mainland stuff is good for kindling accordian fires.
Buy the cheapos without trial at your own peril. Then go to Dave Spiegelthal, John Butler, Marky-Mark Weinstein and others on the classified pages to get a
REAL horn.
Wanna bargain? Talk to Dave.
Want a killer horn? Check out John's website.
Want an unusual, immaculate piece? Cpaok.
I've dealt with all the items on your wish list and I cringe when I see a kid show up with one of the Mainland Chinese horns; these things will get better, but not before they trash hundreds of budding careers.
anji
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: David Spiegelthal
Date: 2001-07-31 16:30
Heimers are cheap Chinese junk. Henkins were an attempt by Conn during the 70's to once again make a decent-quality clarinet, named after the president of Conn (now UMI), Donald J. Henkin (I think that's about right).
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: David Spiegelthal
Date: 2001-07-31 16:39
Don't knock the off-brands ---- there are some diamonds in the rough. I just restored a "Jacques Robert" Artiste model wood Bb clarinet I bought on eBay --- don't know who made it, but it has gorgeous lightly-stained wood, solid nickel-silver keywork, and undercut toneholes. After a full restoration, it is one of the prettiest, and probably the best-playing clarinet I have ever tried. I'm keeping it for myself, and my previous #1 clarinet (another off-brand, a Guy Humphrey with articulated G#) is thus relegated to the status of backup. These are both instruments with no pedigree for which I paid less than $100 each, yet I'd put them up against most of the Buffets and Selmers out there. Probably I'm overstating the case, but the point is that with luck, judicious selection, and a good overhaul (and maybe a few modifications), there are lots of ugly-duckling instruments out there that can become swans, for a whole lot less money that the two grand or so it costs for a new B _ _ _ _ _ or S _ _ _ _ _ or L _ _ _ _ _ _.
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Brenda Siewert
Date: 2001-07-31 19:02
Buy something you can resell if you don't like it. Off brands are hard to ditch. Also, if you're going to buy an off brand, be sure you get to play it first. Not usually an option on eBay---unless it's an unusual seller.
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: David Spiegelthal
Date: 2001-07-31 20:53
Why ditch an off-brand that doesn't play right away as received from an eBay seller? If you only paid $50 for the thing, the worst thing that can happen is you have a $50 table lamp or a $50 parts donor. Have a GOOD clarinet repairman look it over and estimate whether it's worth fixing well, and if so, what it will cost. Then either fix it or make a lamp out of it. If you fix it and it plays OK, then at worst you could probably resell it for most of your investment, or keep it as a backup or marching band horn, or whatever. At that point, you're still out much, much less than the cost of a new (or even used) clarinet from those big names. It's like used cars vs. new cars --- if you've gotta have that new car smell, then by all means buy a new car. But if you'd prefer to let the other guy pay the thousands of dollars of depreciation that occurs in the first few months of ownership, then take some risk and buy a used car, or an "off-brand" clarinet. In an ideal world we'd all be able to afford Mercedes-Benzes and Jaguars and Buffets and Selmers, but in the real world most of us can do fine with Fords and Toyotas and "off-brand" clarinets. As the parent of (hopefully) future musicians, I refuse to brainwash my children into believing that they will not, and CAN NOT, succeed unless they have the absolute "best" instruments, because ultimately I will be the one who has to come up with the money for the nice Buffet Greenline clarinet for my junior-high school daughter. I know I'm sounding like an old fart here, but my parents were not anywhere near wealthy, and I played mostly on rented Vitos right through high school, and did just fine, thank you! I would be ashamed today if my parents had deprived me or my siblings of some of the necessities in order to buy me a Buffet clarinet to play in high school band --- it would have been grossly unfair to my siblings. I'm sure there are many parents with similar financial concerns, and for them, it is necessary to consider alternatives (such as the evil, horrible "off-brands") to the Big Four clarinets. End of speech.
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
The Clarinet Pages
|
 |
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
