Elkhart Clarinet Outfit

I have been playing for over 2 decades. Recently joining an RAF viluntary band. Based on a repetative strain injury, I cannot hold a heavy wood clarinet anymore and have had to return to ABS or Ebonite made instrument.I have been playing the Buffet crampion for about the last 10 years which is ABS (plastic) made. Also a great instrument with a really good sound... BUT, I wanted an Ebonite made clarinet because I originally learnt to play on one made if Ebonite. It has become quite rare to find an instrument made from this hard rubber. Usually they are made from plastic or other hard rubber. I have to say I am not dissapointed. That familiar sound quality is unmatched and sounds more like the Schreiber African blackwood which was the heavy and very expensive clarinet that cause me so much grief with strain injuries. Sometimes these wood made clarinets are good in theory but not in practice.This Elkhart Bb clarinet arrived earlier than expected. It was well packaged and cork was placed under keys to stop them from damage in transit. The case is well made and I like the space provided for accessories but I can't claim to loving it. It is narrow, long and deep so fatter fingers will struggle. I'm not sure if the other spare space is for more accessories or for a spare barrel. I think it could be used for either. The item arrived with cork greece stored in that space and the shoulder strap in the longer space.The clarinet peices were undividually wrapped with tissue paper and then a clear plastic bag. The corks on the ends are not filed down so require care to greece and twist partially in, then take apart and re greece and twist on a bit further and repeat until it will go on all the way without forcing it too much. The other way you can overcome that is to get sand paper and evenly file it a very, very small amount..... but rememeber, you can take some off but you can't put it back on! I chose the first option of working the greece in and pushing and twisting on gradually a bit further each time. Be careful of the mid section as the keys on the upper keyed body need to be pressed down to connect the lower body and the twisting should not be all the way around but smaller back and forth motion to avoid risk of damaging the joints key work.The mouthpiece is a cheep plastic. I recomment upgrading to an Ebonite. These are something I'd recomment you try out in a store if you are able. Everyone's Embrasure is different.The clarinet feel weird to me at the moment as it is different from what I have got used to over 10 years. Yet even with this sense of difference I am able to play fast and accurate. My little finger in my left hand is shorter than it should be. Only slightly as the top was sliced off as a child and the bone would not fuse back on. They gave up and so I do have to stretch a little with some tasks that require a normal length pinky. But like the Buffet I can reach all keys without moving my left hand excessively, which would slow me down over the register break.I used the reed provided and it seems to be the equivalent strength to that of a vandoren 2 or maybe even a 2.5. But I'm hedging my bets that it is more toward the 2! It did play well to be fair. So there is everything you need to pick it up and play instantly.The thumb rest has smooth cork underneath it but I recoment a thumb rest cushion. I found it odd playing it with a normal thumb rest as I currently use the adaptation of a Tom Kooiman which transfers the weight to another part of the thumb to stop further strain injuries. I am not sure if I will have this clarinet adapted or not yet. It seems to be very light and may not cause me the difficulty of triggering an excisting physical injury. You may not have such a problem with your thumb/wrist but if you regularly experience pain while playing, in the base of the thumb and/or wrist, then you may want to look into the Tom Kooiman option rather than buying clarinet after clarinet thinking it must be the instrument.I have only had this clarinet for a few hours but as it is made by the Vincent Bach company, it is a well known brand, especially in the UK and has been one of the top 5 main companies of quality instruments. Elkhart is the name of this line of clarinets within the Vincent Bach company. So that alone assures of a set amount of quality. On inspection there is visual evidence that the instrument is of high quality. Please be aware that these are not silver plated keys. That means you really need to wipe off the acids and salts left on the keys after each use or the coating on them will become damaged and the keys will turn a not so great to look at colour. My Buffet has done that because I didn't listen to someone elses advice. So it is worth a quick and simple wipe down after use.If you are looking to upgrade this instrument in the future, rather than buy yet another new clarinet, I would recomment to replace the barrel. There are some really nice barrels online. I plan to upgrade to a Buchum or Buchun or however it is spelt. Sorry, only ever heard it on Clarinet mentor's web site ... which is a site worthy of a look up! Also youtube chanel for Clarinet mentor's is woth a look at too.So the first thing I would upgrade is the ligature.The second I would upgrade is the mouthpiece.Then optional upgrades depending of what sound changes you want to add to this fantastic sounding instrument ... the barrel and lastly the bell.

I would like to start off by thanking the previous two people who kindly put a review on Amazon for this instrument, it was extremely useful . I had done a lot of research on-line and this Elkhart clarinet was the one I liked the best. I had looked at some of the cheaper clarinets and most referred to the fact that the keys were robust enough on the cheaper instruments. I looked on other sites regarding reviews and they stated that the Elkhart specifically had strong fittings. It was useful to hear in the previous Amazon review that the person had tried one in a music shop and that the instrument was fine through the different registers - this made my mind up to buy one!!.The clarinet is extremely well made, a 5 star rating for the price does not seem enough, I think the RRP might be higher. Each part of the instrument was wrapped in tissue paper and small cork wedges kept keys intact.The carry case is very good also. Comes with a cleaning cloth, wax and onereed. The reed seems to be a number 2. I swapped this for Rico size 1.5 and the difference was amazingly good for a beginner like me. The tone of the instrument really is that good. I used to have a Boosey and Hawkes and I would rate the quality as good as this.HIGHLY RECOMMEND, DON'T HESITATE TO BUY ONE ;0) I'm now trying out some jazz...….

Over the moon with this clarinet. Was a worry buying online and not from shop. Researched Elkhart as one of best makes in this price range. Couldn't be happier with it. Lovely quality, great tone. Daughter thrilled. Made huge progress in the 2 days of learning from scratch. Fantastic that we got a music stand as well from Omega - did not expect this. Arrived quickly well packed and perfect condition. Hoped I could trust the company because it said they supplied schools - so went ahead with order with fingers crossed and it turned out that they were great. I hardly ever leave reviews but they deserve it - cheapest I found too!

I tested out this instrument in a music store, playing the chalumeau register (low notes), the clarion register (mid range notes) and the altissimo register (clarinet high notes above the bar line), which this instrument was able to handle when playing from Bb clarinet musical sheet music.One thing I did notice straight away when starting to play this instrument, it had a very soft attractive tone of its own.Due to this instrument being too highly priced, I dropped the star rating down to 4 rather than opting for a 5 star rating.I am a very mature student and can not currently afford to buy this instrument.