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Olds 53 Bass Clarinet

Author: super20bu6
Date: 2011-05-21 03:52

I recently posted about a Guy Humphrey's Bass...and had several good referals for other clarinets. As it ends up, I lost out on a Yamaha 221 II on that auction web site......and ended up with an FE Olds. Now, don't bash me yet....I've been playing woodwinds for a long time...mainly a sax guy here...but do play Eb Contra in a very good community concert band...and wanted a Bass Clarinet I could use for Pit Orchestra work. Hence the reason I wanted a resonite/plastic Bass and not a wooden one.
The Bass I got is 3 to 6 years old and is in excellent shape. The seller had excellent feed back and worked for/ran a music store. No, it was NOT Hayes Music (I've heard of too many customer service headaches about them). If you're interested in dealing with an honest salesman over the web, contact me off list and I'll get you the name of his store.
Anyway.....for the Bass. Like some other Bass Clarinets, it's in a one piece case...and has the ring with an allen wrench "nut" to separate it for ease of repair. The mouthpiece that came with the bass is unmarked...and frankly, I don't like it, rather stuffy. I use a J&D Hite on Bb Clarinet and wanted to try the Hite Bass Clarinet mouthpiece. I tried a borrowed J&D Hite...liked it...but wanted to try the Fobes Debut or a Garrett Medium Open. I just got the Fobes today (never did order the Garrett to try out) and what a difference. The notes are clear...not fuzzy...Low Eb to G above the staff. The C# above the staff on up will take me a little while to get used to on a Bass....I've got to get used to that half hole that I don't use on Bb Clarinet. Granted, I'm using a Bari Star synthetic reed right now. Intonation is spot on...throughout the octaves. The keywork does not seem flimsy or easily bendable to me. While I would not say this is a Bass Clarinet a professional would use in an orchestra, for my purposes, just the occasional player, it'll do great. I can not compare this Bass to a Yamaha as no one around here has one. I can only compare it to the wooden Guy Humphreys that I tried and I like this one much better. I've heard of the "Olds" brand for years...but mainly brass instruments. I was pleasantly surprised with the quality and sound of this Bass Clarinet and would highly recommend it for the step up student or someone needing a good bass for pit orchestra work. As with any sax or clarinet, the combination of instrument, mouthpiece and reed will have to be found that works right for you.
Just a review from an amateur...
Mark

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