Sure it`s possible for a piece of wood to last 20 years without cracking.

Especially well seasoned African Ebony. Especially if it is not exposed to dramatic changes of temperature/humidity. Especially if it was a good piece in the beginning.

My 50 year old wooden clarinet has cracked twice. To keep it from cracking, use a moisturer and don`t put it in a car trunk, don`t march with it, don`t put it near vents. If you do this, you shouldn`t have a problem. If it does crack, immediatly place the pieces on a wet sponge, not touching the keys, and put it into a plastic bag and rubberband it. Take it ASAP to the nearest repair place!!!

I also play a wooden clarinet. I don`t know if you guys have Bore oil but that is a great thing to put on it about once a year. This keeps it from cracking

Wooden clarinets are better, and are definately worth the extra money. If you look after it orrectly, it will last you a long time. Plastic clarients are lower-maintainence, but you can produce a far wider range of sounds form a wooden one.
Sure, a lump of wood can last 2, 20 or 200 years without cracking - if it is treated right. Playing it often is the best way to stop it drying out, and bore oil every so often will help. I personally delibretly dose mine evry six months. As for storage... keep a moisturiser in your case. They do make a differenced. It helps also if your vcase is fabric lined, as that will help stop the humidty within your case changing too quickly. (Of course this works against if you leave your case on the heater...)

To Tom, Chicko, Laura and bassplayer:

Thank you all for your input, I truly appreciate it.

I am getting back into clarinet and was considering skipping plastic altogether and get a wooden one. I still remember how to read music, fingerings, basic maintenance and recently how to oil the bore. The only thing left I needed to know was how to store the instrument and the average lifespan.

I have two clarinets one plastic one wooden. Iplay a Buffet R-13 and it is great. i use the plastic one for school and the wooden for the professional polka band that I am in.

I have a good condition vintage wooden claranet, and was wondering if anyone knows the value of it or knows of a site that would know

Wooden clarinets are more likely to crack when the climate changes suddenly. I`ve been told that the best way to prevent this is to leave the clarinet out in the new climate for at least 1 hour before you play it.

Something else to remember when purchasing a wooden clarinet is not just try different brands and models but also try a number of the same brand/model. I tried 6 Buffet R13s before i found the 1 i liked.

Without a doubt, well made wooden clarinets sound better than cheap plastic clarinets. If money is no object, go out and buy a new R13, Vandoren B45 mouthpiece and a couple boxes of reeds.

If you don`t have the money for your dream clarinet yet, and you are just starting out, get a high quality plastic clarinet like a Buffet B12 or a Vito V40 or something similar from Yamaha or Selmer. Why? Because a well made new "intermediate" level plastic clarinet can sound better and have better intonation than a cheap used or new "beginner" wooden clarinet. Top-of-the-line plastic instruments have polycylindrical bores, undercut toneholes, and quality keywork just like much more expensive wooden instruments.

After you have been playing for some time and you know you are ready for a professional level wooden clarinet, you can make your purchase confidently because you will have taken the time to learn all about clarinets. You will already know how to play, so you can play test various models and decide for yourself what sounds best.

What do you do with your trusty old plastic clarinet? There is no law that says you can own only one clarinet, so why not keep it. Many professional players own plastic instruments to play in outdoor concerts or to take on trips. Use that nice wooden clarinet for those special occasions when it really matters, but take good care of it!

Hi I finally purchased my own wooden one. I was barrowing the R-13 from a guy in the polka band. I went to a store that had instruments in stock that you could try. I went through and tried the R-13 the R-13 prestige the RC the RC prestige the R- 13 vintage and the R-13 festival. I tried all of the instruments and went back and forth between all of the clarinets listnening to the way that they sounded. After spending about 3 hours listening to the clarinets and the way that they hadled from one type of music to the next I definately decided on the R-13 festival. It was the best out of all of them. When I bought it they also gave me a packet of information onthe care of it. It says about the type of oile that you sould use and also about how they came to the conclution of that plus it gives you a recipe for how to make it but I got bore oil from the stare that they make with the recipe. Sure it is a little extra work to put bore oil in the clarinet but you do not have to do very often unless you have neglevcted to do so before. The way that you can tell if it nedds bore oil is the inside will be dull and not shiny. After you do oil it you should let it sit overnight to allow the oil to be absorbed by the wood. if it is dull after it has sat add more oil if it is not swab out any left over oil. One thing the packet stresses is to use only organic bore oil. If you would like a copy of the packet you can e-mail me at jdmagic@hotmail.com please put wooden clarinet in the subject box and I will e-mail you a copy of the packet.

sorry I forgot to add this. When you are buying a wooden clarinet look to see if you can see the grain on the clarinet if it is stained. If you can that means that the wood is harder and a harder wood produces a much better sound.

can someone tell me wat wooden clarinet i should get cuz im clueless. im new to the whole wooden thing and can someone tell me wat the heck bore oil and matanence is for wood clarients thanks

I`ve just bought a wooden `selmer stirling` used clarinet. I know nothing about it, and the only ref I`ve found on the net is to a `selmer sterling` metal clarinet which is apparently very rare.I don`t know if the different spelling is significant! I would be very grateful if anyone has any info at all. It seems in good condition and plays well I think, although I am not at all experienced. Lin

P.S to the last post, the spelling mistake is mine, my clarinet is a sterling!
Lin

I gotta say by far the R-13 is the best clarinet out there. I own two (1 A and 1 Bb) and I have loved them both. If you want to get a prestige or another type of R-13 it`d also be good, but I would have to say that the R-13 would be the definate way to go.