Yamaha Allegro vs. Buffet R13
Mark A. Segraves
clarinet for some time. He has now been invited to join a regional
youth orchestra, and we would like to get him a better clarinet.
His teacher advises Buffet R13 (accept no substitutes). The local
music store has the Buffet at a reasonably good price, but they were
also recommending a fairly new Yamaha model called the Yamaha Allegro.
This clarinet costs nearly one-half the price of the R-13, and the
salesperson claims that people have been very impressed with the
instrument. I was wondering if any in this group have experience
with the Yamaha Allegro and can comment on how it compares to the
Buffet R13. Thanks for your help.
Regards,
Mark Segraves
Evanston, IL
AltoMKVI
in the same league as the Buffet R-13. If you can afford it, go with the
Buffet.
Mark Charette
GFunk371 wrote in message
<199809120127...@ladder03.news.aol.com>...
>Go with the Buffet. Yamaha has never been too great with the quality of
their
>instruments. I know a lot of people that have seen them crack, but you
rarely
>hear of Buffets that crack. In my opinion, you get what you pay for.
Buffets, Yamahas, Selmers, and Leblancs all have basically the same crack
rate. I've been with Francois Kloc of Buffet while he was replacing my son's
upper joint on a new Festival that had cracked catastrophically. and
discussed this. He is definitely _not_ claiming Buffet is any better than
any other manufacturer.
Yamaha quality control is as good if not better than most, and the cost of a
high end Yamaha is comparable to any other company's line.
----
Mark Char...@sneezy.org, Webmaster, The Clarinet Pages,
http://www.sneezy.org/clarinet
Peter Salveson
When I was ready to purchase a new clarinet I tried a few buffet R-13s, and
a few Yamaha 72 cs's (one of which I bought). I've found buffets to have
rather uneven intonation. The Yamaha, on the other hand, offered even
intonation throughout.
Recently I purchased an A and went through the process of selection again.
I ended up getting a 72 cx A. Once again I tried buffets as well as
yamahas. The intonation on the buffets was uneven, in my opinion.
IMHO, yamahas also play better in tune but, depending on he clarinet and the
player, may lack the "character" of buffets.
Anyway, all the above things could be "me" things.
Hope that helps,
Peter
P.S. I've never heard of the "Allegro" model is it newer?
AltoMKVI wrote in message
<199809112225...@ladder03.news.aol.com>...
fam...@postoffice.pacbell.net
different Buffet and Yamaha clarinets. I'm now a freshman in high school and
own 3 clarinets, all Buffets. I have an extremely old buffet (date of
manufacture around 1938) and still has a great sound and is still in fairly good
condition. I also own an R-13 that I purchased last year and a B-12 that I
bought for something that could be kicked around in marching band. Before I
bought my R-13 I experimented with a variety of clarinets ranging from Selmers,
to Yamahas, and of course....Buffets. After myself and my clarinet teacher
narrowed it down to the R-13 and Yamaha's comparable professional model clarinet
we sat down and played several of these intruments. After rigerously testing
the intonation of both instruments, we decided on the R-13. Not only was the
intonation of the Buffet far superior to the Yamaha, but it also felt much more
comfortable than the Yamaha I played on. After about ten minutes of playing on
it I couldn't even hold it any more because my hands were aching so bad. I'm
sure different people feel more comfortable with different clarinets; you just
have to find one you really like and can play easily. After playing both
clarinets, I would recommend the R-13. As for the Allegro, we eliminated it very
early, it just didn't even begin to compare with the quality of the professional
model Buffets and Yamahas. Like I said earlier, I'm only an intermidiate
player, and I don't know as much and couldn't give you the kind of information
some others could give you, but I hope this helped a little. My experience is
this: you find 2 or 3 clarinets that fit your price range and have the superior
quality of the instruments in that range, and just sit down and play them and
make the final decision on your impression of the instruments. That's what I
did, and now I have a GREAT clarinet that will take me through high school,
college, and probably many years beyond that.
Peter Salveson
For some reason yamaha does not include an adjustable thumb rest on their
custom models (or any that I know of).
One way to help get correct hand position and relieve hand strain is to
invert the thumb rest. That way your right thumb and forefinger have more
of a clamping motion.
Peter
fam...@postoffice.pacbell.net wrote :
GFunk371
instruments. I know a lot of people that have seen them crack, but you rarely
hear of Buffets that crack. In my opinion, you get what you pay for.
いいいいいいいいいい
Rob - TOB Chapter XIII (Group 3)
Middletown High School
Clarinet Section Leader
c/o 1999
JFDonaldsn
>most, and the cost of a high end Yamaha is comparable
>to any other company's line.
My daughter plays a Yamaha YCL-CS, the Yamaha Custom model which is based on
the R-13 design. It has much better intonation in the upper register than any
R-13 she has played, has silver plated keys (as opposed to nickel), and cost
several hundred less than the R-13s, which appear to be somewhat risky to buy
unless you have several to play and choose from.
The Yamahas are assembled in Grand Rapids, Michigan, of parts made in Japan.
They are fanatical about quality control. A friend who lives there says they
fill dumpsters full of clarinet and saxophone keywork which doesn't meet the
standard they've set.
Most of those of who have played her CS have been very pleasantly surprised at
the high quality and playability. Don't over look the Yamaha Custom series when
you are looking for new pro grade horn.
Jim Donaldson
Denver, Colorado
JFDon...@aol.com
Mark A. Bradley
> It has much better intonation in the upper register than any
> R-13 she has played, has silver plated keys (as opposed to nickel), and cost
> several hundred less than the R-13s, which appear to be somewhat risky to buy
> unless you have several to play and choose from.
R-13's can have silver plated keys. And remember, any clarinet, not just a Buffet
clarinet, is risky to buy unless you have several to play and choose from. To any
who are going to buy a new clarinet, it is impossible to tell what would be the
best for you by just listening to what the newsgroup has to say, you'll have to
find some to try out and see which one you're most comfortable with and which has
the best sound for you. Not everyone likes Buffet and not everyone likes Yamaha,
or Selmer, or Leblanc, or others, so you'll just have to try them out.
> The Yamahas are assembled in Grand Rapids, Michigan, of parts made in Japan.
> They are fanatical about quality control. A friend who lives there says they
> fill dumpsters full of clarinet and saxophone keywork which doesn't meet the
> standard they've set.
Buffet certainly doesn't use keys that don't fit their high standards, as well. I
would assume they fill dumpsters, too.
Regards,
Mark A. Bradley
Chazy, NY
ma...@slic.com
Riker
I have played on a professional line Yamaha clarinet for three years. I
treat it like a baby. It has silver keys and most of the advantages of
any clarinet, by looks. The ajustable thumrest that Buffet offers allows
a growing musician that oppertunities to change hand position to make it
more comfortable. Frankly, the Buffet Festival is the model I
personsonally recommend. I use this at all of my important events and
contests. It has everything you could possibly ask for a clarinet, and I
mean everything! It seems to tune itself when i play. The extra Eb sid
ekey allows for easrier movement by both pinkies. Tuning on a Yamaha,
from what I have seen and played on has been quite sharp. The R-13 seems
to have problems with dark full sounds. But again the Festival has none
of these problems. If you son is like me, since I'm a freshman too, and
realy enjoys the clarinet the Festival is the way to go.
Austin
1st Chair All-City
1st Chair All-Region
1st Division UIL Solo & Ensemble
TMEA All-State Canidate
If purchasing a Festival, take it to a professional and ask him/her if
they know where to get the tone holes udercut so it has 'perfect' pitch
and intonation.
Mark A. Bradley
reading a message, your experience may differ from what is written.
Tuning is going to be slightly different on each clarinet and maybe the
person buying the festival finds that they play sharp or flat. Creating
"dark full sounds" can depend much on the mouthpiece and ligature, so maybe
if you had problems on an R-13 it had something to do with your setup.
If someone is considering buying the Festival they should try it out first
since many of the things that you mentioned in your message are objective.
The auxiliary Eb lever is a nuisance to some and many people just don't use
it, while many others find that it is very helpful in some passages.
Be sure to try the Festival considering it is at the same level as the R-13
and other Yamahas but has some differences from them that you may prefer.
And, according to Buffet, the Festival has undercut tone holes.
(http://www.boosey.com/mi/bc1139.html) Also the information says the pitch
is A 440/442 so if the buyer is living in the US be sure that it tunes to A
440.
Glad you are enjoying your Festival, Riker, and good luck to whoever is
making a decision.
Mark A. Bradley
Chazy, NY
ma...@slic.com
Kris Plummer
Clarinet. It is the best instrument I have come upon. Yamaha makes great
saxophones, but their clarinets rank below Buffet's and Leblanc's newest
models.
Kris Plummer
eric pearson
accurate to say that Yamaha outperforms Buffet for the price. Leblanc
outperforms Buffet for a higher price.
]regards,
eric pearson
er...@nospammindspring.com
On 14 Sep 1998 00:53:36 GMT, Kris Plummer <krisp...@writeme.com>
wrote:
GFunk371
If you do not like the lever on the Festival, and are looking for something
better than the R-13, which has less falicies, greater response, and darker
sound please consider purchasing the R-13 Vintage! It is only a couple hundred
more than the Festival, and resonabaly so. If you haven't heard my praises
about this instrument, check my other posts, and PLEASE try one of these models
out! I got mine a few weeks ago, and my teacher is now about to retire her
R-13 for the Vintage. You'll LOVE it!
<end of shameless but worthwhile plug> ;)
Nuša Mastnak
Regards from Ljubljana.
Guess where it's situated.
Nuša