 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: Albert
Date: 1999-06-07 07:05
This is so neat! This page is a color chart of all of the neat colors LA Sax can make a sax with. If only we could do this with a clarinet!
http://lasax.com/colors.htm
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Author: paul
Date: 1999-06-07 14:31
Well, guess you haven't seen LeBlanc's Web page recently, eh? They have all kinds of splashy colors for plastic clarinets, mainly for flashy marching bands. Don't expect these student grade clarinets to perform like pro grade horns, but they do look fancy. There are bright white, green, yellow, and I think red colors available.
Keep in mind that the splashy colors should have almost no affect on the horn's overall performance. I dare say that if the manufacturers put the workmanship into a plastic horn (splashy colors and all), it just might have a good chance of sounding like a pro grade horn. Buffet is trying to do this with their Greenline series, so at least progress is being made on this front.
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Author: Mario
Date: 1999-06-07 16:38
I was in Boston last week, in some music store located across from the New England Conservatory of Music. I saw a Buffet Crampo in tranparant plastic with orange keys...
I thought of buying it as a table lamp.
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Author: Darrel
Date: 1999-06-07 17:42
To Mario,
That clarinet was a B-11 made from Buffet Crampon. It has a plastic (see-through) body with copper plated keys. For what it is, it doesn't play too badly. (Like a high grade plastic horn.) Also, it is really weird to see it condense in the inner bore when you play it. And, in my opinion, not very attractive.
Darrel
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Author: Mark Charette, Webmaster
Date: 1999-06-08 01:50
Kylene wrote:
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can you buy those at a normal, average BC dealer?
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You can here in Detroit ...
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Author: Albert
Date: 1999-06-08 03:56
Paul-
Yeah, I knew about the Vito Dazzlers. But, they don't come in multiple colors like those saxes. Did you see those Endangered Species Saxes? Those were awesome! The only thing you could do with those Vitos is to buy several different colors, and mix and match the parts!
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Author: paul
Date: 1999-06-08 14:38
Yes, I saw the WW/BW ads for the endangered species patterns for the saxes from LA Sax. Each one of their horns looks pretty neat, doesn't it?
However, the music instrument business is very competitive. Companies are continously looking for anything to gain market share. Remember, they are in the business to sell instruments. That's where they make their money.
Your job is to be a savvy consumer. Sure, if looks are what you want, that's great. That's an important part of being satisfied with the product. If performance is what you want, that's better. Twenty years from now, the fancy tiger spots or flashy colors on a student grade horn won't fetch much of a price. However, a very good pro grade horn will tend to keep its value. Look at the prices of a used Selmer Mark VI sax in good condition or a classic Buffet R-13 in good condition. I assure you that you will wish your father or grandfather had purchased one even at full retail price 30 or more years ago.
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Author: Lelia
Date: 1999-06-11 15:36
paul wrote:
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[snip] Sure, if looks are what you want, that's great. That's an important part of being satisfied with the product. If performance is what you want, that's better. Twenty years from now, the fancy tiger spots or flashy colors on a student grade horn won't fetch much of a price. However, a very good pro grade horn will tend to keep its value. Look at the prices of a used Selmer Mark VI sax in good condition or a classic Buffet R-13 in good condition. I assure you that you will wish your father or grandfather had purchased one even at full retail price 30 or more years ago.
I agree. I prefer the classic look to the colors,too, but then I'm an adult amateur playing only for enjoyment. If I were a band teacher with beginning students, I might feel differently. If the colors made the instrument seem more "friendly" and accessible to the kids, they might practice more. That transparent clarinet might encourage kids to do a good job of swabbing out, too. Can you imagine what one of those instruments would look like dirty? Eeeeeuw.... In fact, it might not be a bad idea for a school band program to buy one of these as a demonstration model. It could make the rounds of all the district band classes in turn. Hand it over to a kid and instruct him or her not to swab out *at all* for two weeks, if he or she can stand to play it that long after things start growing in there! It would sure give the class a graphic demonstration of *why* swabbing is necessary.
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