Intermediate?

Dansband

Hi, I've been playing clarinet för six years. Two years ago I quit it, I got bored of always playing the book and never improvise and seldom learning technics. I started playing again recently.

I have a Excella wood clarinet, a Yamaha mouth piece+ligature and Vandoren V12 3,5 strength reeds. The clarinett is very old and the keys are kind of hard to press.

What is a good clarinet for a intermediate player?
What books are good for learning technics?
I have heard that the V12's are great reeds but needs adjusting. How do I adjust them?
 
Dansband,

First, welcome to the Woodwind forum. :-D

Personally, I've never heard of an Excella brand clarinet. But, either way, you want to have clarinet in good repair. A clarinet that has problems just makes it that much tougher to learn how to play as one is always fighting the instrument.

Nowadays there are a lot of playalong books out there. they come with a CD which you can put into a MP3 playable boombox, computer, etc and then you can playalong. This makes parts of learning much more enjoyable then simply bashing ones head against technique books.

Good clarinets for intermediate players are easy to find. brand new intermediate clarinets from Yamaha, Selmer USA, Leblanc Bliss and Buffet (jsut naming a few makers out there).

Going used or vintage the list grows tremendously.

pete, our Admin here, has put together a list of clarinets which may answer your question a bit more .. go to this link
http://www.woodwindforum.com/forum/showthread.php?t=2792

Once again, welcome to the board.
 
Dansband: In September, I stopped at Kessler's Music in Las Vegas enroute home from the U.S. Air Force Academy. Chuck Kessler showed me a couple of intermediate clarinets he was selling for around $1000.00. One was a Buffet and the other was a LeBlanc (but don't hold me to that brand - my memory failed me on that one).

At any rate both were decent players - I was impressed (not enough to buy, though - I already have some good clarinets and don't need another).

Like Pete said, you can always e-mail Kessler's. Dave, Chuck's son, visits this site regularly and is known as a straight shooter. I recall he recently posted that he can ship internationally.

As to reeds, etc., much has been posted on this site about that. If you want details, please send me a PM and I'll spell it out for you. DAVE
 
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I think the Excella is an SML, based on doing some Googling.

Check out THIS eBay ad.

King also imported Excellas from Paris, according to more Googling ....

They're not valued highly. That eBay ad I quote is about the highest. I saw some hits that say $30.

===========

While the Kessler horn is a) new and b) a great price, it is an intermediate horn. If you're looking to spend around $1000, you can get a decent used pro horn.

Examples:
Signet Soloist. $655. (Selmer USA pro-level horn that has some supporters on this website.)
Leblanc Symphonie. $777. (If you're into Leblancs.)
R13 Academy. $988 (that's what they say the price is if it didn't have a repaired bell).

All these are supposed to be fully overhauled and warrantied. Shipping seems to be $60 outside the US.
 
I found a store that ships
http://1stopclarinet.stores.yahoo.net/info.html

Do you have any experience with it?

I've found one clarinet that I'm interested in, a used Klarinett Buffet Crampon B12 for 2200 krones ($322,34). Good deal? A new one costs $849,82 here.

Also I've seen a couple of Evette Buffet Crampon that aren't mentioned in Pete's guide. Good or bad?
 
I don't believe that Buffet still makes any Evettes. They were the older student line, although the Evette-Schaeffer Master Models were sometimes mildly scaled down professional instruments.

You also have to note that I put together that chart for BEGINNERS, as a kind of overview.

A B12 is a student horn and it's plastic. I don't think it's going to be better than your Excella, unless I'm completely wrong and your horn DOESN'T say "SML" or "Made in France/Paris" on it somewhere.

It might be better to know what your budget is. If it's only going to be around $350, that's rather restrictive and I think you'd be better off getting your horn overhauled by a competent tech -- again, unless I'm completely wrong and your horn DOESN'T say "SML" or "Made in France/Paris" on it somewhere. Hey, post a few pics of the clarinet!
 
I don't really have a budget right now but a horn that is around 400-600 is sufficient. The thing is that there aren't many horns in this range in Sweden. I don't know any stores with good prices here. Right now I'm just checking used.

http://www.selmamusic.se/Svenska/Instrument/klarinetter.htm

For example a new Buffet E11 is $1423,90 here.

Do you think a intermediate horn is good enough or should I save up for a better professional? Can you say a couple of horn in that range? Or am I entirely in the wrong price range?

I don't think the Excella could be worth much. My dad got it for $150 at a thrift store. I'll take some pictures tommorrow.
 
Dansband,

welcome aboard!

Per generic woodwind stuff, check out WoodBrass, very reasonable shipping rates, and they also serve lesser and easily confused countries like our two... ;-)

Then, I often shop reeds a 1stopclarinet.com - they're cheap and fast.

Last, about a new clarinet: you may check out MusicRemasters aka Clarinuts, they have refurbished instruments with some trial and warranty periods. There often is a tempting deal out there. (no affiliation with that specific business). For less than $700 they have a Buffet C-13...

If you are happy with the sound your current instrument emits, bring it to a repairman and have him/her estimate what an overhaul would cost. May be worth it.
 
tictactux said:
Last, about a [used] clarinet: you may check out MusicRemasters aka Clarinuts, they have refurbished instruments with some trial and warranty periods. There often is a tempting deal out there. (no affiliation with that specific business). For less than $700 they have a Buffet C-13...

If you are happy with the sound your current instrument emits, bring it to a repairman and have him/her estimate what an overhaul would cost. May be worth it.
Click to expand...
I already mentioned MusicRemasters, above. Great minds think alike.

Personally, I think that the best bet is to go with an overhaul, with the amount of money you're looking at. Unless your horn has cracks. You might also play around with some good quality mouthpieces and the combination of good overhaul and good mouthpiece might make an excellent horn.
 
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It says Excella SML made in France.
 
Have it overhauled.

I once owned an SML Lemaire, and still do a Marigaux RS.

Fine instruments, worth getting done.
 
... and I own a Marigaux, as well. TTT's is a much nicer horn, but the one I bought from another WF member is decent.

If the only problem is that crack in the barrel, you should get an overhaul and look into getting a different barrel, if necessary: they're not that expensive, especially in comparison to getting a new horn.
 
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