Tooting our own horns?...Well, sort of

[@billyboy647]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/m2Kpq4afnb-EipI skip to customer comments click on the time stamp.

[@leonply]

As usual, there is the one down vote, put there by someone who is brainwashed because a certain company spends a fortune in advertisement, in stark contrast to an actual acoustics engineer who understands how proper instrument design but who relies upon backyard advertising, which is much better. I play my three Ridenour clarinets (Libértas, silver-plated Lyrique 575A and Lyrique 580C) on a daily basis, and I have no qualms whatsoever in my opinion of them. I grew up as a Leblanc boy and LOVE them, but I recognize the much finer sounds I produce on my Ridenour instruments. On a bit of an aside, I've seen the new KZbin videos which highlight the new Mopane wood clarinets, played by some of the world's greatest clarinetists. Yes, they're gorgeous to look at. The caveat? Every single one of those musicians were flat on the same notes. I suppose that at least the manufacturer is consistent across the board, when it comes to playing certain notes out of tune. Remember, hard rubber has been used for the last few decades in some of the world's finest oboes. If they can do it, why can't clarinet makers?

[@GothPonyClub]

Sometimes downvotes are people who don’t want to see a video that pops up as a recommendation. Maybe they don’t play clarinet at all. I only made that realization when I started downvoting videos I didn’t want to see in my recommended

[@leonply]

@@GothPonyClub There is an even better way to do that. You can hit the "Don't Recommend" option and you'll never see a video posted by the person.

[@GothPonyClub]

@@leonply I know. That’s what I do. But some people still do the thumbs down

[@tomlavelle8340]

If you got it, toot it!

[@levi1852]

I had a Lyrique with keys that bent like they were cheap silverware. I was extremely bummed when they ended up being the poor quality that I was warned about by a teacher. I'm really confused about the experience because there is a lot of seemingly trustworthy people who love their Ridenour clarinets. Do I need to try another? Is there a possibility I received a bad one somehow?

[@levi1852]

PS I DID PURCHASE THIS CLARINET PREOWNED ON CRAIGSLIST

[@levi1852]

The clarinet did end up playing as described. It just was not durable

[@leonply]

It probably depends upon the year that it was made. As I understand it, there was a batch of them which did not meet Tom's standards and which ended up on the market. I don't know the entire story, but the three clarinets which I own were all made in the past two years and are of higher quality than any of my Leblanc LL clarinets.

[@tedridenour5275]

@@levi1852 Levi, I'm sorry you had a poor experience with one of our clarinets. I don't know when you purchased the clarinet, or since it was purchased used when it was made, but I can tell you that the mechanisms on our clarinets have improved significantly over the last 15 years. What model of clarinet was it? One of our Bb's? A Bass? A? C? Again our mechanisms have been improved upon significantly, especially the most recent models which feature silver plating and the best mechanism we've ever offered, but I can tell you that many of the comments featured in this video and on our website date back to 2011 and some are definitely earlier than that. I really can't say what happened with the clarinet you had. If I knew more information, model and the year it was purchased, I could perhaps speculate but that's the extent of it. While our key work hasn't always been as good as we'd like it to be I can't think of a time when that it was as you described. As to your question; "Do you need to try another"? Well you definitely don't NEED to do so but I think if you want to give the line a "fair shake" it would be necessary and it also could and IMO most likely would be very beneficial to you as a player especially if you had a positive impression of the instruments acoustic as you said. Players typically try seven or eight, sometimes many more, high dollar wood clarinets to find a "good one" and then will take it to an artist repair tech and put hundreds of dollars in customization into it. Before Tom got the opportunity to design his own line of instruments for Leblanc he did this kind of work for many professional clarinet players so we're not speculating on what players do to accommodate the preferred brands/models. All of this extra trialing and customization is done without a second thought. It's just assumed that it's part of what goes into buying a clarinet. Numerous companies actually exist to go pick out and then customize the "good ones" from the manufacturers factories/warehouses. So considering what players do to accommodate other brands/models when purchasing brand new clarinets costing 500% or more of what we charge I think trying a second clarinet, one purchased directly from the manufacturer, is a reasonable thing to do. The only cost you'd be committing too is shipping and handling which is $40 round trip anywhere in the lower 48 states as every clarinet we send out is sent on trial. If you'd like to talk to us about your previous experience and potentially set up a trial for a new clarinet you can reach me toll free at 1-888-258-7845. (1-888-AKUSTIK).

[@billyboy647]

Sounds to me like you got an older clarinet---one of the first. We made changes in the sturdiness and stability of the mechanism that really make it stronger and more stabile than most clarinets on the market after those early models. That was some time ago, yet they still pop up for sale by someone. And you're right: the acoustics were always excellent on the model---but they key work needed improvement---which we did---and we'll actually be making the mechanism even better in the future.