 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: Gardini
Date: 2005-06-03 22:57
I will be in L.A. this summer and hope to test drive clarinets. My wife is almost ready to let me splurge. Any suggestions on good woodwind shops in the area. I am not stuck on a brand name, I would like to try out all the major brands.
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Author: EEBaum
Date: 2005-06-04 00:44
RDG, aka Gilbert's. (Mr. Gilbert sold it IIRC, but still works there) See http://www.rdgwoodwinds.com. Call a good time in advance for an appointment. I picked my A out of about two dozen there, and fell in love with their only on-hand Eb. They only stock Buffets AFAIK. They're 10-15 minutes west of the 101, off Melrose.
I've also heard good things about the Buffet place in Sun Valley, but haven't been there personally.
As for good all-around multi-brand woodwind shops in the area, I'd be happy to discover some myself. I can direct you to places for reeds and small repairs, and know of a quite good sheet music store, but for major purchases I usually go online.
-Alex
www.mostlydifferent.com
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Author: msloss
Date: 2005-06-04 22:52
If Buffet happens to be your interest, you can work with any dealer in the country, and have them make an appointment for you to try instruments at Buffet's facility in Sun Valley. You will have more clarinets to go through than you could possibly imagine.
Have fun.
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Author: Wes
Date: 2005-06-07 07:45
Yes, I picked out an R13 Bb clarinet in Sun Valley with the kind help of James at WW&BW plus Francois Kloc at the Buffet Sun Valley facility. Ten instruments were made available to try in a special, adjustable acoustic room. It was a very positive experience and I'm so pleased with the instrument.
However, I realize that Buffet cannot put a lot of effort into hand finishing their clarinets and keep the price low. Thus, one can expect to have work done on the clarinet after it is received. I adjusted the heights of all the rings, undercut a few toneholes to bring the pitch up on some low register notes, and did a complete overhaul. I also added a little tuning fluid in a couple of holes. The Buffet pads in mine were single skin and I replaced them with double skin hard pads with sealant and using regular pad shellac. The suction level in the top joint went from 5 seconds to more than 20 seconds. The general pitch level goes down a little with the replacement of the leaky pads as the distributed leaks pull the pitch upward. Anyhow, it is a good clarinet but I suspect that most of the Buffet R13 clarinets would be fine with some after sale work on them.
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