 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: Jacob R
Date: 2023-04-03 21:04
Is the Yamaha 450 a good clarinet for a high schooler?I need the pros and cons of the instrument.
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Author: Ursa
Date: 2023-04-03 22:15
Hi, Jacob:
Do you plan to study clarinet in college? If so, it makes more sense to skip a step-up model such as the YCL-450 and go straight to a professional model such as the Buffet R13.
If you don't plan on studying beyond secondary school, the YCL-450 is an excellent choice. Pros include sturdy and ergonomic keywork, very nice intonation, great response, and less likelihood of cracking compared to a Buffet. The only drawback is that the tone may be a bit bright for some people's tastes--you'll have to test-play one for yourself; if you like what you hear, then there's no reason to not buy the YCL-450.
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Author: HighWood
Date: 2023-04-03 23:12
Will the student be marching with it? A Ridenour Noblissima or a 576 would be a good step up.
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Author: m1964
Date: 2023-04-04 00:04
If buying a used one, the condition would make a lot of difference, mainly if it holds air and is regulated properly
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Author: Connor1700
Date: 2023-04-05 00:34
Ursa wrote: "Do you plan to study clarinet in college? If so, it makes more sense to skip a step-up model such as the YCL-450 and go straight to a professional model such as the Buffet R13."
Or go straight to a professional Yamaha, Uebel, Selmer, Backun, etc, etc. There are many GREAT professional level clarinets out there, the R-13 is no longer the "gold standard", IMHO.
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Author: David H. Kinder
Date: 2023-04-05 03:33
The Yamaha 450 clarinet is simply the YCL-20 or YCL-255 student ABS clarinet but made out of grenadilla and may have silver-plated keys depending on when it was manufactured.
It's been a while, but I recall most intermediate clarinets being harder to play than student clarinets and quality pro-level clarinets. I wouldn't want any clarinet that makes my job harder.
Getting back into playing after 20 years.
Ridenour AureA Bb clarinet
Ridenour Homage mouthpiece
Rovner Versa ligature
Vandoren V12 #3 - #3.5 reeds
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Author: nellsonic
Date: 2023-04-05 04:53
HighWood wrote:
> Will the student be marching with it? A Ridenour Noblissima
> or a 576 would be a good step up.
Not so much unless you don't mind the discoloration of the rubber that will take place with prolonged exposure to sunlight. You don't want to march with any kind of a step up clarinet actually, unless you are stepping up from a Clarinet Shaped Object you bought way too cheaply at Costco or on Amazon.
I agree that intermediate instruments are often not the best move in terms of value, but it really depends on the player and the budget. Generally I'd recommend a good used pro horn over a new intermediate one. They should fairly similar in price.
Anders
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Author: NOLA Ken
Date: 2023-04-05 06:51
Looking back on my high school and college experiences, I think if I were both marching and playing seriously I would just buy a GOOD but inexpensive ABS clarinet and a good mouthpiece to march with and a second more serious instrument for more serious performance. Like a doofus I marched in a Midwest university band for two years in rain and snow with a Leblanc Classic II and got away without ruining it. But I think a good ABS clarinet well set up would have been just as good in the middle of a football stadium and would hold up better. I'm partial to the Vito V40. (There's one of those for sale on the Goodwill site for $19 and some change!) But I'm certain there are other good used ABS clarinets that would do just as well or better.
Jacob hasn't told us much about his situation, but I sense that he is looking hard at the Yamaha 450 for a reason. Maybe if he gave us a bit more information we could address his question more specifically.
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Author: Ursa
Date: 2023-04-05 21:16
Quote:
Ursa wrote: "Do you plan to study clarinet in college? If so, it makes more sense to skip a step-up model such as the YCL-450 and go straight to a professional model such as the Buffet R13."
Or go straight to a professional Yamaha, Uebel, Selmer, Backun, etc, etc. There are many GREAT professional level clarinets out there, the R-13 is no longer the "gold standard", IMHO.
Connor1700, please note that I said "such as the Buffet R13". That phrase indicates that the R13 is one choice among multiple possibilities.
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Author: Julian ibiza
Date: 2023-04-05 22:26
The Yamaha 450 is a notably bright sounding instrument . This is fine, although it can possibly sound wanting for the darker, richer tones that we tend to associate with clarinet sound .( Just my opinion ! )
That said, this model has received very good reviews among the intermediate range of clarinets on the market in the US.
My wife played one and liked it .
Julian Griffiths
Tel. 34 696 798 853
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Author: Johnny Galaga
Date: 2023-04-06 04:27
Yeah, but you can't even hear the clarinets at football games. Our instrument is too damn quiet.
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Author: David H. Kinder
Date: 2023-04-06 06:15
nellsonic wrote:
> Not so much unless you don't mind the discoloration of the
> rubber that will take place with prolonged exposure to
> sunlight. You don't want to march with any kind of a step up
> clarinet actually, unless you are stepping up from a Clarinet
> Shaped Object you bought way too cheaply at Costco or on
> Amazon.
>
> I agree that intermediate instruments are often not the best
> move in terms of value, but it really depends on the player and
> the budget. Generally I'd recommend a good used pro horn over a
> new intermediate one. They should fairly similar in price.
>
It's not hard to refresh the color of a hard rubber clarinet. I did some spots on my new Lyrique using a simple black sharpie pen.
Per the link below:
"What do you do for hard rubber that turns drab olive in color? Here's the answer from Tom Ridenour:
Get some good black shoe/leather stain (not shoe polish, but stain that will soak in). Apply it, let it dry and then rub it down.
The rubber does not change colour. The black dye leaches out; natural rubber is white/ivory coloured."
https://sites.google.com/a/clarinetpages.net/www/hard-rubber/professional-hard-rubber
Getting back into playing after 20 years.
Ridenour AureA Bb clarinet
Ridenour Homage mouthpiece
Rovner Versa ligature
Vandoren V12 #3 - #3.5 reeds
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Author: Julian ibiza
Date: 2023-04-06 11:25
I agree that Tom's line of hard rubber clarinets should be up there on the list of options to consider for students/ intermediate players . They are also finding favor with a good many professionals. Leslie Craven (see Wikipedia) played them exclusively in his final years before retirement as 1st clarinet for the National Welsh Opera .
I believe that hard rubber is naturally black after the vulcanizing process although it does indeed derive from a milky plant / tree latex sap containing polymers .
It's tendencies to discoloration relate to the sulfur content which is something added for the chemistry of vucanization .....or so I understand it .
Anyway.... It's resistance to environmental changes , cracking or blowing- out
make it a good material, and Tom R seems to have turned it remarkably well towards producing great performance and sound quality at affordable prices .
He's a man who has pretty much dedicated his life and expertise to the support of clarinet students and is also a remarkably talented designer .
Julian Griffiths
Tel. 34 696 798 853
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Author: NOLA Ken
Date: 2023-04-06 18:15
I think we're getting a bit far from Jacob's original question.
I too considered recommending one of Tom clarinets as an all-purpose instrument (marching and/or concert). I own a Libertas and it's a great instrument capable of playing at a pro level and priced extremely reasonably. My reluctance to recommend it to a high school student who might be marching was because of the discoloration problem that might appear sometime in the three years on the marching field. Young people can be very seneitive to appearances. Yes, it can be remedied, but it's best done by a tech. I doubt that any high school student is up to stripping the instrument down to re-blacken it evenly and then reassembling it. For someone who is playing primarily indoors or who has ready access to a good tech, I would think that one of the Ridenour clarinets would be a better choice than the Yamaha 450.
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Author: David H. Kinder
Date: 2023-04-06 22:23
NOLA Ken wrote:
> I think we're getting a bit far from Jacob's original question.
>
> I too considered recommending one of Tom clarinets as an
> all-purpose instrument (marching and/or concert). I own a
> Libertas and it's a great instrument capable of playing at a
> pro level and priced extremely reasonably. My reluctance to
> recommend it to a high school student who might be marching was
> because of the discoloration problem that might appear sometime
> in the three years on the marching field. Young people can be
> very seneitive to appearances. Yes, it can be remedied, but
> it's best done by a tech. I doubt that any high school student
> is up to stripping the instrument down to re-blacken it evenly
> and then reassembling it. For someone who is playing primarily
> indoors or who has ready access to a good tech, I would think
> that one of the Ridenour clarinets would be a better choice
> than the Yamaha 450.
Certainly cannot disagree with you on your points.
I'll just suggest that the discoloration potential issue can easily be taken care of as easily as oiling the outside of a clarinet, which I did to my used R-13 in my senior year of high school a couple of times. It's not a big deal, but I didn't mind experimenting a bit with it. Not every student would feel that way.
Just to share that this is a Ridenour 147 (much older model) that is looking rather green. This could easily be handled with a little bit of stain. But I have seen some Lyrique 576bc clarinets that began to lose a bit of color with exposure to the sunlight, so it can certainly be a real concern for those who don't want to do their own work on it.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/144759819418?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&mkrid=711-127632-2357-0&ssspo=6O_5HBkfTee&sssrc=2047675&ssuid=s2D1aQXaQlO&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY
Getting back into playing after 20 years.
Ridenour AureA Bb clarinet
Ridenour Homage mouthpiece
Rovner Versa ligature
Vandoren V12 #3 - #3.5 reeds
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