"Professional" plastic clarinets?

[m...@rco.rosano]

Has anyone discovered any plastic clarinets that are basically
comparable in quality to an R13 or something similar? Paranoia kicks
in when I have to play outside in cold weather.

Or maybe even an old metal clarinet - didn't some of the brand name
manufacturers produce some metal clarinets once upon a time?

Thanks,
Marco

[m...@rco.rosano]

Speaking of metal clarinets:

There seems to be an unlimited number of brand names on those old
things. Are there any that are actually worth looking into? I seem
to remember a metal Buffet go for sale on ebay a while ago, though I'm
not sure of that. Does anyone have any experience with these old
museum pieces?

- Marco

[Guido]

The Buffet Greenline is likely the choice tool of the trade, although not
bombproof either --- nor inexpensive:

http://www.wwbw.com/Buffet-BC1131G-5-0--R13-Greenline-Bb-Clarinets-i26542.music

I utilize two Vito V-40's for cold weather applications, swapping them
in/out as pads stick when playing below the freezing point. 'Certainly not
substitutes for an R-13, but devoutly more affordable...

G

[OldGirl]

I play saxophone in a band and occassionally double on clarinet. I don't
like to use my wood clarinet because it sits around and dries out. I use a
Yamaha YCL20 student clarinet. The Buffet B-12 is also quite good. Don't
discount the Yamaha and Buffet student plastic models; they aren't quite the
same as the professional ones but they are really very good instruments (not
the Buffet B-10 though).

<m...@rco.rosano> wrote in message
news:ialr0314c7ic0ie19...@4ax.com...

[m...@rco.rosano]

On Sat, 31 Mar 2007 05:16:59 -0400, "Guido" <we...@ghunter.mv.com>
wrote:

><m...@rco.rosano> wrote:
>> Has anyone discovered any plastic clarinets that are basically
>> comparable in quality to an R13 or something similar? Paranoia kicks
>> in when I have to play outside in cold weather.
>>
>> Or maybe even an old metal clarinet - didn't some of the brand name
>> manufacturers produce some metal clarinets once upon a time?
>>
>> Thanks,
>> Marco
>
>The Buffet Greenline is likely the choice tool of the trade, although not
>bombproof either --- nor inexpensive:
>

Wow - that's definitely not something I would buy to use a few times a
year. Interesting design, though.

> http://www.wwbw.com/Buffet-BC1131G-5-0--R13-Greenline-Bb-Clarinets-i26542.music
>
>I utilize two Vito V-40's for cold weather applications, swapping them
>in/out as pads stick when playing below the freezing point. 'Certainly not
>substitutes for an R-13, but devoutly more affordable...
>
>G
>

Sounds like a decent solution. I don't think I've played on a V-40.
Maybe I'll run into one sometime.

Thanks,
Marco

[m...@rco.rosano]

On Sat, 31 Mar 2007 07:12:34 -0700, "OldGirl" <old...@rr.com> wrote:

>I play saxophone in a band and occassionally double on clarinet. I don't
>like to use my wood clarinet because it sits around and dries out. I use a
>Yamaha YCL20 student clarinet. The Buffet B-12 is also quite good. Don't
>discount the Yamaha and Buffet student plastic models; they aren't quite the
>same as the professional ones but they are really very good instruments (not
>the Buffet B-10 though).
>

I ended up playing last night on a B-12. It got the job done, though
I was certainly missing my R-13. Maybe they make the student
instruments "easier" to play by decreasing the bore size? I don't
know - it seemed that at a certain point, more air didn't equal more
sound. Those high notes popped right out, though. I'll check out the
Yamaha when I get a chance.

Thanks,
Marco

[Tim Roberts]

m...@rco.rosano wrote:
>
>Has anyone discovered any plastic clarinets that are basically
>comparable in quality to an R13 or something similar? Paranoia kicks
>in when I have to play outside in cold weather.

You might check out the Vitos. I don't think anyone would compare them to
an R13, but mine has given me faithful service for 20 years, and I have
heard that many professional players who HAVE to use an R13 at work for
reputation's sake use a Vito when they're playing for fun.
--
Tim Roberts, ti...@probo.com
Providenza & Boekelheide, Inc.

[mse...@juno.com]

On Mar 30, 11:33 pm, m...@rco.rosano wrote:
> Or maybe even an old metal clarinet - didn't some of the brand name
> manufacturers produce some metal clarinets once upon a time?
>
> Thanks,
> Marco

There were many moderate to 'good' metal clarinets made at least thru
the 1950's. I still have an "American Standard" made (I believe) by
King instrument co. I have also (many years ago) played both King
and Selmer take apart clarinets. If memory serves me correctly, the
Selmer was a double wall construction. Reed and mouthpiece control
most of the sound of an instrument. Most can not tell the difference
between metal, wood, and plastic.