 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: dave
Date: 1999-05-17 14:53
What is the difference between an intermediate and a pro model (besides cost). I notice the specifications listed for the different models, say a buffet E11 and R13 are essentially the same: bore size,uncut holes etc.
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Author: paul
Date: 1999-05-17 21:52
A lot of it has to with the workmanship involved with making the horn. As I recall from this BBS, there were some occasional references to pro grade horns at various production runs that weren't quite right or weren't completely finished. The lesser horns were sold anyway, just with a downgraded rating and at a much lower price. They weren't bad horns. In fact, some of these intermediate horns have even more of a market than some popular pro horns.
On the other hand, most of the intermediate horns are an intentional design step between an extremely forgiving yet very rugged and bland sounding beginner horn and a highly unforgiving, somewhat sensitive but great sounding pro horn. My intermediate horn (Yamaha YCL 52)was very forgiving, almost as forgiving as a beginner horn. It was a high quality wood horn, with very good keywork, but a bit of a bland sound. No one cared if I played the Yamaha intermediate or not. The sound was in tune and okay, but nothing more. Things were really different on my next horn. I turn heads with it every time. My premium pro grade Buffet Festival was a big challenge at first. It squeaked and squawked a lot and my sloppy fingerings didn't help. On the other hand, the tone is great, I can "shade" notes, I play right smack in tune for almost every note available to me, and I make it a point to take care of it so the wood and silver won't deteriorate. Yes, the sound, even with simple warm-up drills is fantastic. And yes, I paid dearly for it.
My own personal opinion is if you want a horn that's pretty forgiving of mistakes, provides years of good service, and is fairly decent in price, then an intermediate horn is a very good buy. If, on the other hand, you want "the" sound that your heart desires, and you are willing to earn it every inch of the way, then a pro grade horn may be worth the investment.
If you want a pro grade horn, but all you have is the money for an intermediate, then check out the used horn market. Things get a bit iffy with used horns, but if you do your homework, chances are pretty good that you could pick up a decent used pro grade horn for the price of a new intermediate horn. Now, if that happens, then you've struck a gold mine.
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Author: Mike
Date: 1999-05-24 05:48
One of the main differences is the bore finishing and design. The manufacturer's take much more time and care and often do a lot more to the bore to make the horn play better. They will hand cut the tone holes etc. They will also usually use only the highest quality of woods on the pro models and in the case of Buffet or Leblanc the quality of the wood is incredibly noticeable between their standard pro models and their Prestige or Opus models respectively. The raw wood alone for these instruments costs the manufacturers several hundreds of dollars! The result is the sweetes sounding of instrument with the least likely cracking. The intermediate instruments are generally dyed (or in the case of Buffet- Deep Fried in dark oil) and have a more black look than their comparable pro models (one exception is the Selmer CL220 which has natural wood). I would strongly recommend getting a pro model instrument as the sound is generally much nicer though they are less forgiving. The Buffet Festival mentioned previously is a wonderful choice as it has many features found on a "Prestige" grade instrument but at a standard R-13 price (though the instruement is a bit more free blowing and slightly brighter with more projection than an R-13). Sorry for the overload. If you can only afford an intermediate that is still much better than a plastic instrument. New is better than used (generally) though you can get a real good buy on some used items you can also really get stung.
Mike
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Author: Mark Charette
Date: 1999-05-24 11:53
Mike wrote:
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. The raw wood alone for these instruments costs the manufacturers several hundreds of dollars!
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Whoa! I have it on very good authority that any of the billets cost well less than $20.00 in raw costs, including storage.
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