Hi,
I am trying to buy a new E flat (soprano) clarinet (E flat, not B flat). The one I have is a very nice instrument for it`s price and such, but is wearing out a bit and has always been a little out of tune. I`m hoping to get a nice, expensive one, but I have run into significant problems trying to find the right one. In particular, I can`t seem to find any to try out, which seems extremely odd to me. There was a store where I was able to try 2 that they special ordered, a Yamiha and another (L ... something ... a French brand, name escapes me right now), but they seemed to be in fairly bad shape, and no one seems to have a Buffet to try (I hear good things about them). The Yamiha was the best of the 2, that other one being horrible, but it was a $3000 instrument (approximately) and didn`t sound as good as my current $800 one (well, that much, new, in 1989). So I`m totally confused as to how I`m suppose to pick one out. Someone told me I have to just order one, pay part of the price, try it out, and send it back for a refund if I don`t like it, but I truly hate that idea; I can`t really comparison shop that way and don`t want to be paying large amounts of money and shipping things and doing refunds and such. There`s got to be some better way. So that`s my question; anyone know the answer?

Thanks

Gary

The only advice I can give you is to go further afield. Larger cities tend to have more selection and for such a purchase its probably worth it to take a trip to one. Your trip clarinet shopping could even do double duty if you want to go sight-seeing, have a small break, or if you have someone in the area you can visit.