hey.

i have a buffet e-11. i found out to late to return it that most buffet`s are poorly manufactured. mine certainly is and even though they have excellent sound quality, it`s a hassle to have had to go to get it repaired four times in two years, almost three, with my busy schedule. so, unless you have tons of time on your hand to deal with corks falling out, keys w/ screws coming a little loose to the point where it delays it coming out and affects the pitch, i do not recommend buffet. i don`t play it too often either. just three times each week for 15 min., then in band two 45 min. (1st clarinet has quite a few rests, so not even the full 45 min.) and one band period of 20 min. (we students have to prepare the auditorium to be ready for church on sundays) also i`ll play maybe 15 min. in church on sunday evenings, so, it`s not worth it. i am still a poor teenager so i can`t afford another wooden clarinet (my parents bought me this one).

Jen

i have a selmer(im not sure how ya spell that).i think i am gonna get a harder reed like a 2 or something,i am finding the 1 1/2 ricos way to soft.im into the higher notes and some basic songs now.

Hi all,
I`m from Singapore. I have been playing the bass clarinet for 2 years now. I play for my school concert band. I am using a Buffet Prestige. I started off using a size 2.5 Vandoren traditional reed. I ahve worked my way up to a Alexander Superial "Classique" size 3.5 reed(it`s about the size of Vandoren reed 3.5 to 4). I strongly do not recommand u to use a rico reed. They suck (no offence) If u want you should try using Vandoren traditional or Vandoren V12. But it all comes down to ur own prefrence.
Good luck anyway to ur clarinet playing, hope u find a reed u like.
And oh yeah, you can find out the different sizes of reeds to use, cause different reeds have different sizes, by typing "clarinet reed comparison chart" on a search engine.

My students play on a reed strength of 2 and use Rico`s as they are the cheapest for the amount of reeds they go through.

There is a newer brand out from vandoren called v12...I am spoiled by those :-D