Author: Jack Kissinger
Date: 2007-07-20 16:43
Hank,
I bought a CS (I think the immediate predecessor of the Custom CS) Bb on eBay a few years ago. Even though the pictures showed the barrel and bell clearly, I overlooked the fact that they both had the logo of a YCL-34 rather than a CS -- it was a very good price. They work pretty well with the barrel and bell they came with but I feel some improvement when I use the barrel and bell from my CS A clarinet -- even though, at least in theory, these should not be a perfect fit. I suspect that the originals cracked and were replaced as cheaply as possible (though I plan to bring the clarinet to ClarinetFest next year and ask the Yamaha people. The barrel and bell could be replacements after the model had been discontinued. In any case, I have been using a (Buffet) Moennig barrel instead of the one that came with the clarinet and it has worked just fine. The Yamahas haven't replaced the R13s that I've owned since the '60s as my front line concert performance instruments but they are my day-to-day practice clarinets and I have been using them in the pit and for outdoor concerts.
If the price is attractive (and I suspect it is, given the status of the model), it is probably a good find.
Donald,
Yamaha is one of the few companies I have found that makes available information about discontinued models on its (US) website. (Start with www.yamaha.com and then navigate through the options to clarinets/history). My reading of that site is that the top-of-the-line models have gone something like this:
YCL-82 from 1979-1984
YCL-72 from 1985-1987
YCL-72CS from 1987-94 (integral wooden toneholes)
YCL-72CX from 1987-94 (plastic inset toneholes)
YCL-CS from 1994-current (there appear to have been a few evolutions, from CS to Custom CS to CSG and CSV)
YCL-CX from 1994-98 (when it was discontinued)
Also, the YCL-SE, a different design, was introduced in 1995 and is currently available as the YCL-SEV.
From that site, it looks like the 82 was dropped and replaced by a new design. Yamaha gives the 82 bore as 14.75mm, while the 72 and its successors are 14.65mm).
I'm not sure what I have. It is simply marked CS with no "Custom." For awhile, I thought it was probably a 72CS but then I saw a clarinet marked 72CS. So mine are either late 72CS models or (and I think this more likely), early CS models.
Best regards,
jnk
|
|
The Clarinet BBoard
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
