 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: Ron
Date: 2005-06-12 11:50
I've heard conflicting opinions on the Amati clarinets. If you have knowledge of, or own their professional full Bohem models, both A and Bb, I would appreciate your feedback. I am going to Prague next month and am seriously considering buying at the source.
Is it possible to get them in to performance shape in the US? If so, who does the work?
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Author: joannew
Date: 2005-06-12 13:04
I too would like very much to try the Amati full boehm. In fact I ordered an A earlier this year, but had to eventually cancel the order.
I ordered from an online retailer in Czech, since Amati will not sell directly to customers in a country in which they have a distributor. However, the French distributor is several hunderd km away from where I live and will not send instruments by mail order (and charges twice the Czech price). The retailer for some reason couldn't process my credit card, and couldn't really explain why not (part of the trouble was that their English was not much better than my Czech!). I needed the clarient for a performance of the Mozart, and the delay was too long so unfortunately I had to cancel the order. However, I meanwhile fell in love with a 6-key boxwood clarinet which I ended up buying instead (I rented a nice RC for the performance), so all worked out in the end.
Amati themselves were very helpful. I played on one of their mopani wood Bb models in London (not the full Boehm), and quite enjoyed it. The woodwork and keywork looked and felt very good, although the pads were not top quality and not so well seated, so I had factored a complete repad into the cost of the instrument (still a great deal!). I contacted Amati to ask about a full boehm A in mopani wood, and they immediately said it's not in the catalogue but they are happy to make me one. However, it turned out they didn't have a long enough piece, since their full Boehm models have a one piece body. So I have dibs on their next shipment of mopani wood, whenever that may be!
Let us know your impressions if you decide to take the plunge!
Joanne
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Author: bob49t
Date: 2005-06-12 17:00
Ron,
From experience last year, I suggest that you DO NOT buy from the Prague Shop.
They are major sellers of Amati BRASS instruments and know very little about WW.
I went with a musical colleague and had given then a few months to get samples of A, C and Eb clarinets from the Kraslice factory, for us to try out.
Incredibly and to our utter amazement they had only "acquired" one playable instrument (an Eb) which was really nice but had a sticking key. I bought it however and with the minimum of engineering it's a fantastic little stick. My colleague's journey was a total waste of his time - he was looking for a pro level full b A- they only had got their lowest spec which would not go together, and the barrel rings were both loose ! We sussed they had made no effort to accommodate us at all and these instrument were the old stock. It could however, be that the manager has changed now and all may be well.
All in all it was not the best intro to Prague for us. City however is stunning architecturally and is high on my hitlist for going back.
If you're intent on going to Czech to purchase, get yourself by train to the Kraslice factory, organise a tour through it and try out instruments there if possible.
There is also a commercial outlet in Kraslice if all else fails- I have spoken to the shop by email and they seem to know more about the WW side of the business.
You can find this by accessing the Amati website.
Good luck
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Author: L. Omar Henderson
Date: 2005-06-13 03:15
I have a 604 full Boehm Bb clarinet that I purchased from several instruments supplied by Graham Golden. Graham did a fair amount of set up work and installed a new set of Saubinger pads. When I got the clarinet I stripped the dull black finish myself after developing a stripping agent for their finish. Under the dull finish was a very nice, tightly grained, chocolate brown wood with no checks or fills. After Graham's work the instrument played beautifully and I use it for several venues where I want a "warm" full tone. Barrels are a problem because they do not supply a 66 mm barrel to tune to A = 440 from the factory so I had one made and tuned to the clarinet. With all the work the price was 1/3 of any of the "Big 4" professional level clarinets. Significant work is necessary however.
L. Omar Henderson
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Author: BobD
Date: 2005-06-13 11:08
Aah, a train ride from Praha to Kraslice....what a pleasant thought.
Bob Draznik
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