 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: metsno1
Date: 2009-10-26 14:45
Attachment: clarinet.jpg (408k)
I was hoping someone might have some information about a clarinet I picked up the other day. I'm thrilled to have a clarinet in my possession as my Buffet E11 was stolen several years ago. I picked up a Yamaha Nippon Gakki Japan 52 wooden clarinet last week. It's in MINT condition and seems to play beautifully!! It's been a VERY long time since I sat down and really played (about 20 years) so I don't have a very good reference point to refer to. The gold Yamaha marking is perfect and the pads are in excellent shape which makes me think that it's either a newer model or the previous owner took impeccable care of it. It has an older case and it came with a beautiful vintage Harrison ligature and an older vandorn b45 mouthpiece. Did some searching on the web and ebay and came up with no matches and hoped that someone out there might know how old it is, it's value, and if this clarinet is a keeper. If it's not a decent clarinet I will give it to my Daughter that just started playing this year and will set back out on my search for a replacement for my stolen E11. By the way, I paid $90 for it! Thanks in advance for your replies!
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Author: Mark Charette
Date: 2009-10-26 14:57
FYI - Nippon Gakki just means "Japanese Musical Instrument". If you search for Yamaha 52 you'll find a number of comments on it.
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Author: Chris P
Date: 2009-10-26 15:06
The YCL-52 is a higher intermediate model in between the YCL-34 (intermediate) and YCL-62 (former pro model) - though I'd suspect it may have more in common with the 62 than the 34, so my guess is it's from between the mid-'80s to the late '90s as it doesn't carry the Yamaha logo. The Yamaha 50 series clarinets and saxes were unique to the US market - elsewhere (eg. Eurpoe) the 30 series were the only intermediate models and the 60 series were the pro models - either side of that there was the 20 series being the entry level instruments and 80 series being the Custom pro models.
As for value, I'd be inclined to insure it against the current value of a YCL-650 as that seems to be the nearest equivalent in Yamaha's current lineup.
The first number in Yamaha's model number denotes the level, so:
2 - standard
3 - intermediate
4 - intermediate
5 - higher intermediate
6 - entry level pro
7 - pro
8 - Custom
Former oboe finisher
Howarth of London
1998 - 2010
The opinions I express are my own.
Post Edited (2009-10-26 17:57)
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Author: Ed
Date: 2009-10-26 15:15
Great instrument at a great price. These play very well. It should provide many years of enjoyment.
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Author: Ken Shaw ★2017
Date: 2009-10-26 17:41
Some people would pay $90 just for an original Harrison ligature. They have a tendency to break, though, if you screw them down too tight.
Ken Shaw
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