The kid has been playing the cheap one since 4th grade.

She can seriously play now. In marching band (section leader), orchestra, concert band and jazz band.


I want to get her a real clarinet.



Looked at the Yamaha 450NM. Nice intermediate with great features. Wood over resin. She doesn't like the idea of adjustable thumb rest.


The buffet costs considerably more for the intermediate. But I was told orchestra prefers buffet.


Any input from guys who know this stuff? I'm way out of my element here

What's your budget?

Buffet-crampon as well as backun are pretty amazing clarinet. I would probably do a really nice one for concert, symphonic band and a resin for marching.. marching can be really tough on instruments..

Great advice, thank you. I think she will understand and follow that advice. Makes sense all the banging around. Her old one is in for service now.


Since she is really pushing back against the adjustable thumb rest on the new Yamaha, I asked her if she would prefer a used buffet r13. So now we are looking at those.

She's also getting a car this year, I think I'm all in at 2k. The Yamaha fits that, but it's an intermediate. The used buffet fits that as well.

Thanks for the good advice

The Buffet is the better instrument.

I'm a saxophone player and only spent a limited amount of time playing clarinet. But I do know that the Buffet is going to be the better instrument.

If she has any aspirations of playing in college, or studying music in college, even for music education, she will need a professional level instrument as her primary instrument.

If she just wants to play in band in college for the fun, and is studying something else, then a quality intermediate level instrument is fine.

If's she's going to be a music major, get ready to start laying down some serious coinage. Because, in addition to her primary Bb clarinet, she will also need a clarinet keyed in A (common in orchestra work), as well as an Eb clarinet, and probably at least a bass clarinet also. If she's going to play in the jazz band in college, she'll need an alto or tenor saxophone, and a flute and/or piccolo as well. Playing woodwinds is expensive, as pro woodwind players are expected to cover all of the woodwind family.

I've got more money tied up in my three saxophones (and mouthpieces) than I do audio gear, or camera gear, and guns. The last saxophone I bought was over $6,500. The next one that I buy will likely be close to $10 grand (will be next year for the 100th anniversary of the brand that I play).

A quality used instrument is a solid option. Just make sure that it's in good condition, doesn't have any cracks in the wood and has ben well cared for. Vintage instruments are well regarded as long as they are in good condition. If you find a good used one, see if you can negotiate a deal for her to play it for a week and have it inspected by a qualified repair tech to go over any issues it might have.

Marching band is definitely the place for the resin, composite, or plastic instruments, i.e. the student level instruments. You don't want her taking her good concert clarinet out in the heat and rain, etc... I played my student model saxophone in marching band for 8 years. It served me well. All I have to do was put a screaming loud mouth piece on it. I also used Fibracell reeds, which are synthetic. Get her some of those for marching band also. They don't dry out and are ready to play after several minutes of not being played so you don't have to wet them down before playing.