 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: Danelle
Date: 2002-05-04 14:14
My son will be starting band next fall in the sixth grade. He has been playing clarinet for about a year and a half, using my father’s Buffet, which dates from 1945. His teacher had him get a Ridenour BE10 mouthpice and Rovner dark ligature.
I want to get him a different clarinet to carry to school. The school recommends one of these choices for their beginning students:
Yamaha YCL34
Buffet E-11
Selmer CL200
with a VanDoren B45 and a Bonade ligature.
My inclination is to get the Buffet. His teacher really wants him to get a Ridenour. I would like to get him an instrument that will serve him well through middle school, and then perhaps in marching band in high school. He will probably need a better instrument by then.
Does anyone know anything about the Ridenour? How can I decide between these different instruments? Will the band teacher be upset with me if I don’t get a wooden clarinet?
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Author: Fred
Date: 2002-05-04 14:45
IMHO, those are pretty advanced clarinets to take to middle school. Don't get me wrong - they are fine choices (except for the B-45 mp - do a search on this bb for more info on that) for most high school students. (Please do the search - you will be shocked and enlightened at what you find out.) But I would opt for a good "plastic" clarinet for now - one with undercut tone holes and good workmanship. Your son will need it later for marching anyway. An E-11 is too good to march with - again, my opinion.
I'm not familiar with the Ridenour. I have a Vito V-40 that is a good choice for a young player with promise.
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Author: Kat
Date: 2002-05-04 15:20
I just heard about a middle school up here in the Twin Cities (MN) area which, first thing in fifth grade, outfits ALL the clarinet students with a Yamaha 34 and a Larry Combs mp.
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Author: Fred
Date: 2002-05-04 15:40
Depends where your focus is. If you want to start on a 34 or E-11, then later buy a plastic horn for marching and possibly a better horn for high school/college, that would work. The 34/E-11 could take you through high school and even college (non-music major), but the pressure will be on to upgrade if the student has talent.
The 34 or E-11 will certainly improve the 6th-8th grade bands, so I can see a director encouraging that. Plastic, however, belongs on the marching field. (Greenline not included.)
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Author: E
Date: 2002-05-04 17:31
I highly recommend Ridenour clarinets. They are inexpensive and produce wonderful results. My beginner students all play on Ridenour clarinets with Ridenour BE-10 mouthpieces and have never sounded so great! The clarinets are made of a hard rubber material and produce a warm, clear tone similar to wooden clarinets. Since the clarinets are made of a synthetic material, they are much more consistent than wooden clarinets.
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Author: Bob Arney
Date: 2002-05-05 22:28
Good one Mark!,
Kat, when Jessie Ventura hears about this (expenses for Yamaha 34's & Coombs mpc's), he's likely to fire the Board of Education and reopen the Gov's Mansion he closed to save money.
Bob A
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Author: Bob
Date: 2002-05-06 12:54
So...what are you going to do with the old Buffet; obviously it's not good enough for school band purposes.
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Author: Kat
Date: 2002-05-06 16:35
Hey, Bob, _I_ didn't vote for him! 
Besides, I doubt he'd know what this stuff costs...
Anyhow, I think the parents have to buy the horns for their kids...
Speaking of which, I have a friend who conducts a middle school orchestra. One of her 7th grade boys who plays string bass launched his bow, javelin-style, across the room, causing it to snap in two. These kids today think this stuff is FUNNY. Of course, at least until they have to pay the $300 to replace the bow!
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Author: Brenda Siewert
Date: 2002-05-07 19:56
Our school district recently decided to go straight Ridenour clarinets and mouthpieces for the students. They previously used the Vito V40 with Vandoren 5RV Lyre and Vandoren M13 mouthpieces.
Tom came and did a demo for the local band directors and they were quite impressed with the clarinet. I've never personally tried one, but have heard nothing but good things about them.
I also recommend the Buffet E-11 most highly. It has been a standard great in the beginning-intermediate world for a long time.
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Author: Danelle
Date: 2002-05-08 19:45
Thanks for all of your responses. I still don't know what to do! Our old Buffet is a wonderful instrument, which would probably be even better with some work, but I would rather that he have an inexpensive instrument to take to school. I'm leaning towards the Ridenour, with the assumption that it will serve well for marching later.
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Author: Denny G
Date: 2002-09-13 19:11
I hope it's okay, but I also started a new topic with this, but wanted to also ask my questions here under this topic.
From what I've been able the find out, it takes $800 to buy and Ridenour and about $400 for a Vito V-40. Is the Ridenour twice as good as the V-40? Or can the Ridenour be had for less?
Here's another question is the Buffet R13 Greenline twice as good as the Ridenour (or 4x better than the V-40)?
From these three, which represents the best value for a person that wants a really good horn that is fun to play and is not going to crack and does not need bore oil?
By the way, does anyone know how to get specifications on the Ridenour? I was wondering about the bore size.
Thanks. Love this BB.
Denny G
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