Hi. I am new to the forum. I have been playing on a student-grade Jupiter brand clarinet. It is getting too low-quality for me. I'm in 8th grade. I was awarded the best young musician in my county, with a $100 scholarship this past November. I plan to use it through out high school and into college. Can you please recommend some brands and models for me? My band teacher plays a Buffet R12 Prestige. She recommend not getting a professional grade clarinet, such as a R13. But more of an intermediate one. One for someone (like myself) that is too advanced for a student, but not quite ready for a professional grade.
I hope you can help me!!!

Trevor

Hey,

If you are interested, i am selling my clarinet. It is a Leblanc Rapsodie L1012S Bb Clarinet. It is intermediate level, in great condition, and about five years old. Let me know if you are interested.

Thanks, John.

Buffet E11 are totally awesome intermediate instruments, the bore is made similar to that of the R13, it is all grenadilla wood, and it comes of course with the craftsmanship, durability, and comfort of buffet. I personaly loved my E11 dearly, but I was offered a Buffet Festival at a price i could not refuse, but you might wanna go with a Buffet E11, (in my opinion, there are of course other instruments out there)

Personally I'd go for an E13 rather than E11 - the former is more of an R13 without the hand finishing while the E11 is basically a wooden B12.

So E11 are no good????
What are the average prices on em?

And John, I will think about it

Alright, cool. Asking price is $800. Here is some info on it:

http://band-orchestra.musiciansfriend.com/product?sku=468227X

http://www.kesslermusic.com/SelmerLeblanc/rapsodie/leblanc_rapsodie.htm

'So E11 are no good????'

I didn't say that.

IMO the B12 is the best beginner plastic clarinet. The E11 is the wooden equivalent of this but, although still a good instrument, I think not really worth the extra money. The E13 I reckon is a much better intermediate instrument. This is also the opinion of all the teachers I have spoken to over the years.

As to prices I'm not in US so cannot help on that.

wwbw.com is a good place to start your search, they offer new and in some cases used instruments that are priced according to condition, i bought my soprano saxophone there used, and it was wonderful!

Usually, they have very good prices and if you find a better price, (for the same NEW instrument) they will match it, or go lower, (this happened to me twice)

Not endorsing wwbw.com but they are very helpful :D

I am so surprised about this information on E11's! I always thought they were a great intermediate clarinet. My band instructor recommended them to me just the other day!
It looks like I might be getting an E11. My grandma is thinking about getting my an E11 very soon.

well the other clarinet may be a better end intermediate clarinet, but in my opinion an E11 was a great instrument and a great value

*if you take care of it, the resale value is usually pretty high*

great news! i emailed the music store I get my reeds from and asked about their stocking of Buffets. They have R13's now, but they said they can order just about anything. So i asked for price estimates on the E11's and E13's. Hoping for a reply by Tomorrow afternoon, and then I can talk to my grandma about it.

Awesome, keep us informed.

my grandma now wants to "shop around" and wants me to try out others, besides just buffets. which is fine. what others brands are good for me to look out for? My local music shop (never been there myself, but my grandma has) and he suggested her "OLDS" brand. Where I get my reeds, they sell a lot of yamahas. but thats all i know as of now. so any brands you know of are great!

the Leblanc is still for sale if you are interested...i can't really comment on anything else. I only played for four years and then i got into guitar. The Leblanc is the only one i have used and it has gotten the job done. I think it is a great instrument. I'm sure other Leblanc products would be good as well. Good Luck.