I am looking for a first bass Clarinet for my daughter. She is a small framed 13 year old who has played the clarinet for 4 years. Her teacher has no specific preference re instruments. He has played the Yamaha 221 and likes it. Bass Clarinets are not that common in Australia so second hand instruments are hard to come by. New instruments are significantly more expensive. Comparatively the best price I can get for a Yamaha 221 is $3221.00 (plus shipping). The same instrument is $2095 on Amazon. These costs flow through to second hand instruments. This one is on ebay http://www.ebay.com/itm/yamaha-plas...944?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item19e1231c10 This one is on a local sales site http://www.gumtree.com.au/s-ad/mund...-just-been-fully-serviced-exc-cond/1026280571. My thoughts are to purchase a Yamaha from America and have it serviced and shipped. Opinions please?
Opinion Please
- Thread starter Minyonne
- Start date
Few things:
* Remember that your eBay seller may not ship internationally. I'd strongly recommend contacting him before bidding.
* Assume that any eBay instrument will need at least $300 in repair -- and you should budget for a full overhaul (when Steve sees this, he can provide a guesstimate of how much that'd be).
* If it's not listed in the ad, assume that the instrument doesn't come with it. In the eBay ad, for instance, I don't see a mouthpiece or a floor peg. On the Gumtree ad, I don't see a bell.
* If you don't see it, assume it's damaged. A crack or split will ruin your day.
* Overseas shipping can be very expensive. You need to check.
* Customs can be very expensive. You need to check.
I actually didn't mind the Vito basses I've played. However, I know that all the Yamaha instruments I've played are very high quality. I've just not played a Yamaha bass. With the eBay ad for the Yamaha, tho, note that it's not a Buy it Now auction. The final price on the horn could be really, really high. I'd actually almost rather get one of the Selmer USA plastic bass clarinets for $329 (provided the horns have no other problems) and buy a good overhaul. That $500 Jean Cartier bass on eBay also looks pretty nice to me, but I have no experience with Jean Cartier bass clarinets ("Jean Cartier" was the name of a Dolnet saxophone stencil).
Do stay away from the horns that are made in China. They're not known for high quality.
While I was moderately insane and owned my own bari sax by age 16, I didn't know of anyone around my age that owned anything more expensive than a tenor sax. Additionally, I had made the decision to go to college for music by that time. I therefore ask, "What will she do with the bass clarinet?" If it's, "Just play through high school," an inexpensive student model will do fine. If it's, "She wants to go to college with it," you'd probably want something better than a student model and possibly an instrument with a range to low C, not low Eb.
* Remember that your eBay seller may not ship internationally. I'd strongly recommend contacting him before bidding.
* Assume that any eBay instrument will need at least $300 in repair -- and you should budget for a full overhaul (when Steve sees this, he can provide a guesstimate of how much that'd be).
* If it's not listed in the ad, assume that the instrument doesn't come with it. In the eBay ad, for instance, I don't see a mouthpiece or a floor peg. On the Gumtree ad, I don't see a bell.
* If you don't see it, assume it's damaged. A crack or split will ruin your day.
* Overseas shipping can be very expensive. You need to check.
* Customs can be very expensive. You need to check.
I actually didn't mind the Vito basses I've played. However, I know that all the Yamaha instruments I've played are very high quality. I've just not played a Yamaha bass. With the eBay ad for the Yamaha, tho, note that it's not a Buy it Now auction. The final price on the horn could be really, really high. I'd actually almost rather get one of the Selmer USA plastic bass clarinets for $329 (provided the horns have no other problems) and buy a good overhaul. That $500 Jean Cartier bass on eBay also looks pretty nice to me, but I have no experience with Jean Cartier bass clarinets ("Jean Cartier" was the name of a Dolnet saxophone stencil).
Do stay away from the horns that are made in China. They're not known for high quality.
While I was moderately insane and owned my own bari sax by age 16, I didn't know of anyone around my age that owned anything more expensive than a tenor sax. Additionally, I had made the decision to go to college for music by that time. I therefore ask, "What will she do with the bass clarinet?" If it's, "Just play through high school," an inexpensive student model will do fine. If it's, "She wants to go to college with it," you'd probably want something better than a student model and possibly an instrument with a range to low C, not low Eb.
Thanks Pete,
I didn't notice the missing bell. High School will go for 4 years, she will play it at least that long. If she does music at University I will without doubt need to buy her a professional instrument. She is quite persistent about playing, I have learnt previously not to buy her cheap instruments. Shipping isn't an issue for me I have lots of contacts that can ship me an instrument internationally. To the best of my knowledge not a single one of them would know one end of an instrument from another.
I didn't notice the missing bell. High School will go for 4 years, she will play it at least that long. If she does music at University I will without doubt need to buy her a professional instrument. She is quite persistent about playing, I have learnt previously not to buy her cheap instruments. Shipping isn't an issue for me I have lots of contacts that can ship me an instrument internationally. To the best of my knowledge not a single one of them would know one end of an instrument from another.
Most university programs will have good quality bass clarinets on hand for the use of students, but the serious student will take lessons on soprano and not bass.
You might run into problems with shipping if this is the case. Instruments need to be carefully and FULLY packed by someone who knows what they are doing if they are to be shipped. Putting the cased instrument in a box full of packing peanuts isn't nearly enough protection. Immobilizing the instrument inside the case without bending it, followed by securing the case, followed by double boxing is a minimum - plus insurance and documentation that it was - in fact - properly packed, should you have the nerve to attempt an insurance claim for damage sustained while in transit. Even properly packed it most likely will need to be adjusted by a professional after it arrives. The larger clarinets in particular are susceptible to being knocked and bent out of adjustment.
YMMV. I've yet to see a high school or university that has had instruments in as good condition as I've owned. I also did take lessons at uni. playing bari sax
.Carl does have a point about Bb soprano (i.e. "normal") clarinet. She should have one. Fortunately, there are an awful lot of good used soprano clarinets that are inexpensive.
Carl has a couple extremely good points regarding shipping. While I have relatives that own a shipping place ("Box 'n Mail"-style place) and they'd do the best job possible, I tend to doubt that they'd do something like add cork to prevent the keys from moving. Additionally, for insurance, you'd want to have the horn insured for replacement value, not for how much you paid for it.
Thank you all for your responses. I have confirmed the Vito has a bell. It seems the best option if I purchase internationally is to have it forwarded to a reputable service agent for overhaul, packing and on shipping. That Vito is a long way from me, I suspect I will be looking for another Yamaha. Pete were you serious about the Clayton?
Clayton? You keep using that word. I don't think it means what
Oh. The Yamaha 220 bass sold for $300. That's a great price.
Oh. OK.
I mentioned that Jean Cartier was the name of a company that Dolnet made saxophones for (a process called "stenciling"). However, companies generally bought stencils from whomever was the cheapest and saxophone stencils don't guarantee that Jean Cartier bought clarinet stencils. All I can really tell for sure is that it really does look like it's in good shape and they do ship internationally. It might be interesting to register on eBay and at least check to see what the buy-it-now price is.
I did a little more digging on the Interwebs for you. I came across at least two websites that "positively" identified the JC clarinets as having been made by Dolnet. However, one of those websites mentioned that someone spotted a JC clarinet with the names "Super Artist" and "Artiste" on them. Those were names used by Pierret, which was a sax-only manufacturer -- well, according to all the info I have on Pierret, at least.
I mentioned that Jean Cartier was the name of a company that Dolnet made saxophones for (a process called "stenciling"). However, companies generally bought stencils from whomever was the cheapest and saxophone stencils don't guarantee that Jean Cartier bought clarinet stencils. All I can really tell for sure is that it really does look like it's in good shape and they do ship internationally. It might be interesting to register on eBay and at least check to see what the buy-it-now price is.
I did a little more digging on the Interwebs for you. I came across at least two websites that "positively" identified the JC clarinets as having been made by Dolnet. However, one of those websites mentioned that someone spotted a JC clarinet with the names "Super Artist" and "Artiste" on them. Those were names used by Pierret, which was a sax-only manufacturer -- well, according to all the info I have on Pierret, at least.
The Yamaha 220 model bass clarinet is actually a Vito. Neither is made by Yamaha. Only the newer 221 model is made by Yamaha and is not a Vito. The 221 is usually (significantly) more expensive than the 220 or a Vito.
I somewhat disagree about the current bass clarinets made in China (with the definite "stay away" comment). I've tried many. I think they are not as good as some reviews make them seem to be, but they are a huge improvement over past bass clarinets from China. Deciding between one and something like a Vito or a Bundy, I'd only get the Vito/Bundy if it was much cheaper, or if I could only check one in advance. This assumes one of the better Chinese models, sometimes it's hard to tell...
I pretty much agree with everything else, though I'm a bad example to this since I was playing my own professional model bass clarinet in highschool...
I somewhat disagree about the current bass clarinets made in China (with the definite "stay away" comment). I've tried many. I think they are not as good as some reviews make them seem to be, but they are a huge improvement over past bass clarinets from China. Deciding between one and something like a Vito or a Bundy, I'd only get the Vito/Bundy if it was much cheaper, or if I could only check one in advance. This assumes one of the better Chinese models, sometimes it's hard to tell...
I pretty much agree with everything else, though I'm a bad example to this since I was playing my own professional model bass clarinet in highschool...