Author: Jack Kissinger
Date: 2007-07-27 20:51
CJB,
The dates I gave aren't mine. I took them straight from the Yamaha U.S. website. However, after looking at the pan-European and UK websites, I see what you mean. Those sites show that the CX model is still available in Europe. I guess the dates in the U.S. website may refer to the period when the various models were exported to/generally available in the U.S. (but see below). With regard to the CX you purchased in 1992 (if you still have it or still remember), was the logo Custom CX, or possibly 72-CX, or was it simply CX in relatively small "type"?
The UK site mentions that the 650 is available in A. The pan-European site only shows it available in Bb. Since you have apparently seen one, it obviously exists but it would appear to have very limited distribution. In any case, it does not appear to be directly available in the U.S. so, here at least, I think my suggestion that some potential buyers might be mislead into thinking the 650 is an intermediate model based on price and the lack of a "matching" A is still valid.
The UK and pan-European sites also mention the AE model as currently available. This is not currently available in the U.S. and, if WW&BW catalogs are any indication, hasn't been since at least 2003. I did find it in an older WW&BW catalog (it doesn't have a cover so I don't know the exact date - the last page indicates that it was the year of their move so it could probably be dated from that). According to the description in the catalog, the AE was introduced in 1995 with "a 14.65 mm bore and a taper that gives a very deep and powerful sound similar to the German style." The description goes on to say that, "It also plays with more resistance [presumably than the CS, CX and SE models]." The catalog still lists the CX as an available model. BTW, a 1997 WW&BW catalog (I really need to clean out that drawer!) lists the 72CX and 72CS rather than simply the CX and CS -- three years after the one given on the U.S. Yamaha site for the changeover. (This could be explained by an error in the Yamaha site or, given that Yamaha clarinets don't exactly seem to fly off the shelves, it could simply mean that the company has some NOS that it's still trying to sell.) It would be interesting to find out from the Yamaha reps at some show which models the company is still actively manufacturing.
Just to muddy the water, the Yamaha site lists the SE and SEA as currently available in the U.S. It says that both the AE and AEA are "discontinued and may not be available at all dealer locations." However, it also lists the SEVA as the "current model" for the AEA. (No current model identified for the AE.) Maybe the significat differences you notice between the SE and SEV models are because the SEV models actually evolved from the AE rather than the SE? Or maybe Yamaha needs a new historian?
Hank,
I picked up (stole?) a Yamaha YTS-Custom 875 a couple of years ago on the famous auction site to replace my aged King Cleveland. What a difference! It plays as smoothly as a hot knife going through butter. I almost only have to think a note and out it comes.
Best regards,
jnk
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The Clarinet BBoard
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