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Play-tested: YCL-CSG III, Uebel Superior, Buffet Tradition

Author: Kalashnikirby
Date: 2017-11-03 14:22

Good morning from Germany!
As I've already hinted earlier, I took a ride to a large brass- and woodwinds store and got my hands on these instruments with plenty of time and a room all to myself to compare them and determine which one I like best - and more importantly to me - to find whether my RC such a bad decision 5 years ago as I've thought it to be for a while. Well, it's not, buuut:

I'm going to try to keep it short. I've played a few scales, parts of Weber's Concerto no.1, 1st movement and Stravinsky's third clarinet piece (or parts thereof). Besides playing characteristics, I tried to closely compare the finish, keywork ergonomics and wood quality. I used a Viotto B3 mouthpiece and
2 1/2 Steuer classic reeds Let's cut to the chase then, shall we?

YCL-CSG III
Picking this one up, you'll first wonder if there's one giant block of blackwood Yamaha sheds a piece off for each billet. The wood looked exactly the same like on their lower and higher end models, but perhaps it was the room's dim lighting deluding me...
Then I noticed that the left hand pinky levers were unpleasently loud, with the H-E lever making a ghastly rattling sound with each triller. It seemed to have some play between the posts, but perhaps this was also owing to the metal pins instead of nylon?
The CSG III did nevertheless produce a beatiful, rich sound with a timbre that really earns this instrument the "G" in its name. I liked the responesivness and dynamic posibilities, but there was a certain limitedness chalumeau, at least compared to a certain other instrument. Still, a very rich sound and it handled the throat tones rather well, with a barely hissing Bb and generally few "sidetones".
At first, this weird, kind of elevated hole for the G-C irritated me, but I think one could get used to it. The ergonomics were superb with IMHO the best Eb lever placement of all models I played. Yamahas have a Yamaha keywork and it somehow creates a different feeling than Buffet, not for the better, nor for the worse. It'd take me weeks to determine which one is better in that department, though I did notice that the side B-D# trill key had pleasantly short tavel and just felt well placed, so that it I liked it more than the on my Buffet. Unfortunately there wasn't more time to investigate each key in terms of placement and min. required opening, which I believe one always has to take a look at when planning to repad or change the corks. Generally speaking, the CSG III did very well in that department.
There'll be little to write abound the tuning, it was fine: You have the typical flat Low E + F that you could improve using your embouchure or the optionally available correction key. The altissomo seemed very good to both to the tuner and my ears, with the A responding beautifully even after my favourite F-E trill in the Fantasia from the Weber Quintet where I simply overblow to the A using the E fingering.
Now, what about that rattling key? Unjustly so, the Yamaha was a shopkeeper, often tested, never bought. A completely new 650 lying around didnt have any of these issues and I'd assume that a brand new CSG III would be fine, too, though nylon pins might just be a better solution than we often assume?

Uebel Superior
I'll say it beforehand, it's the clear winner. Why? Well, when looking for a Boehm with a "German" sound, look no further, still, this wouldn't do justice to what it's capable of. First, I liked the finish most and it just felt so nice in my hands, with a beautifully grained, slightly brighter grenadilla body and a somewhat more solid feel to the keywork. Why yes, it uses nylon pins (by now, you might realize I'm obsessed with that topic), but they're way more massive than on any Buffet. This might apply to the rest of the keywork, too, but once again I'd need to have way more time on my hands to determine that. At any rate, the Superior had the most silent keywork of all the instruments I tested.
Starting with this piano B at the beginning of Weber's first concerto, which can sometimes be a dreadful note to play, I was impressed with the dynamic possibilities. It responded like a dream. There is an inherent softness to the clarion and you still quickly reach ff, should you need to. Playing the Stravinsky, I still might not have created this "nervous" sound that definitely suits my RC. Now, bear with me, I've kept talking about a "German" sound and we all now that one shouldn't asses clarinets having any kind of sound as much as we should call the player to account for it, and the more I play in orchestras, the more I feel like it's tied to one's personality. Anyways, as most non-musicians might find the clarinet to be shrill and annoying - to be sure, it's a miracle some kids' ears don't just fall off after they'd play a few notes - but the Uebel simply calmed those tendencies. So that's the "German" sound of this clarinet. Besides, it had the nicest Low E + F, albeit the correction hole in the bell couldn't raise the pitch enough. Nevertheless, a neat feature. Oh, I should've tried some Brahms, too, as I think the Uebel could handle some annoying throat notes very nicely, with virtually no hissing. Also, the altissimo D almost didn't nee the Eb key to raise the pitch and the above-mentioned "Weber trill" (not to be confused with Weber grills

) worked great. Hard to say whether it does beat the Yamaha, I'd probably prefer the Uebel, but can't put my finger on why.
There is one downside: The Eb lever seems to be in the way, I didn't find the placement useful, but could get accustomed, I guess. Now, there's the "Superior II" to look forward to and it seems like they improved on this issue, too, as far as I can tell from the pictures.
The Goretex pads seem like real winners, as they're soft and still durable. You know the hype around this material, but there's no one yet to play on them for years and evaluate them... Some day, we'll find out.

Buffet Tradition
There'd be, as a matter of principle, remarkably little to be said about this instrument. It's GOOD and I'm afraid to tell any Buffet-Hater that it was set up just fine, though unlike with the Yamaha and especially the Uebel, I still felt like one pad had to be reseated (you may guess which one!). But this might be my bias speaking, for the Buffet responded nicely in all registers and was unusually warm and rich. For a Buffet, that is. Everything, from the wood to the ergonomics, conveyed the feeling "BUFFET". Whether this is bland or just the right thing for musicians, I cannot determine, but let me say that I was neither impressed by the unplated posts nor the "most natural form, with no unnecessary changes or overstated technology." (as they put it).. for heaven's sake, it's a clarinet. That being said, I can see now why people chose them so often - you feel the need to buy this instrument like you'd feel the need to finish a packet of crisps once you've started, but why? You know these instruments and you know the wood is probably not aged naturally, still, it is well made and does exactly what you want it to do. It's a mass product.
Once again, the intonation seemed flawless and it'd be unfair to say that it lacked something the other clarinets had. However, I felt that the Clarion and Altissimo could've responded a tad better compared to the similiarly priced Uebel, but still beats my RC. It felt like a better Version of my RC in many departmants, anyways and would have been the instrument of my choice back then - for 3k, not for 3,7, that is. Can you hear the " brand new cylindrical bore"? Nope, sounds like a richer RC.
There was a flaw imminent to many Buffets: The hinge tube of the H-E key already had a significant amount of play, even though the pivot screw on the post (the very last on the lower piece of the clarinet right before the bell) was already screwed in all the way. Uebel, on the other hand, was as smart as to place the post more accurately and still leave some room for later adjustment. We all know, sooner or later they keys WILL start making noises. I'm under the impression that the Uebel's silent keywork will last the longest, with the Buffet's being a bit less bulky, but don't nail me down to on this statement. Nevertheless, this is one deciding detail for me.

There we have it. I was pleasently suprised by the Buffet, seeing all the bias I've developed for years, yet price-performance wise, it's clearly beaten by the Superior, which I'd prefer for it's sound alone. My ranking would be: Uebel>Yamaha>Buffet.
All of these are excellent instruments and I can finally make peace with my RC, which is solid, but not the exactly right choice for my requirements, plus the Superior used to cost 3k and I invested both money and work to make my RC comparable with these instruments.
A favorable 2nd place goes to the Yamaha, as it is more affordable, offers interesting options (plating, additional keys) and will suit a broad range of players with it's darker yet flexible timbre.
The Buffet didn't really lose, there just no point in spending the same money on this instrument when I can have the Uebel. Would it be the better choice for some? Probably not. The Uebel is so free blowing that a it allowed a strong vibrato despite my rather "classical" mouthpiece, another area where it beat the other instruments, but once again only by a smidge.

You can now either trust my writeup, and please, ask any questions you have, or go and try for yourself. I've made my choice and can now easily wait another 2-3 years till having to buy a new instrument. The only interesting option would be to look for a Leitner & Kraus Reform Boehm, which is probably even better than the Uebel. And more expensive...
BTW, I checked out the Uebel 634. For 2k, I expected more. It neither sounded dark and calm as I've expected it, nor could I commend the tuning in any way. In fact, even the correction key, which was poorly placed, couldn't raise the low E enough and both the low E and F were way off, with some other notes not satisfying me, either... The keywork was decent, but one pad was severly misaligned.
This instrument is not produced in Germany, but in China AFAIK and while I liked the finish, it's not much more than an OK clarinet with no remarkable characteristics, so once again you'd need to look for another German clarinet, should you be willing to buy one. There are better instruments, even for 2k.

Best regards,
Christian

Edit: Think I got rid of the spelling mistakes now.

Post Edited (2017-11-03 19:20)