Author: Jack Kissinger
Date: 2002-02-10 15:02
Kim,
Are your comparisons based on personal experience? If so, could you please describe the comparisons you've made?
Also, it seems to me that if there are clarinetists who won't outgrow an R13, there must be some who won't outgrow an E13, or an E11, or a B12 (probably alot of these). Not everyone who takes up the clarinet in 4th or 5th grade will become a college performance major. Isn't their optimal clarinet a matter of the level to which they aspire? Frankly, if you look at the Buffet website, it's hard to identify the differences between the E13 and the R13. What is the difference between "selected grenadilla" and "carefully selected grenadilla," for example. How precise is the selection process? as precise as the process for "hand selecting" Vandoren reeds? In the past, Buffet has claimed that the primary difference between the two models was that the R13 received more hand finishing. Is that still true? What kind of hand finishing? Are there differences in the bore? (in the past the R13 and E13 had the same bore design. Is this still true?) Is there enough difference to warrant spending the difference between an R13 and an E13 (about $300 -- $400 street price, maybe not a significant amount to you but certainly a significant amount for many parents) or the difference between an R13 and an E11 ($1,000+ street price)? If someone aspires to play in a community orchestra and has $1800 to spend, are they better off buying an R13 Bb or an E11 Bb and an E11A with enough money left over for a really good mouthpiece? I submit that the decision is not as cut-and-dried as you would like us to believe.
jnk
|
|
The Clarinet BBoard
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
