I have decided to take up the Clarinet in my gap year. At the moment i am looking to purchase a reasonably priced second hand one. A Clarinet which i am looking to buy is of the make of Blessing. It is not a name which i have heard of myself but i have been informed by the seller its a reliable make.
Has anyone else heard of this brand? and if so is it good quality? Also i suppose this must sound like a stupid questions but are clarinets made out plastic to begin with normally?

Thanks

Jess

Yes most student clarinets are made of plastic and are much less hard work to look after! I have come across quite a few blessing flutes and they were ok flutes but I have never seen a Blessing clarinet. You can usually find some quite cheap Buffet B12 on ebay going for around £100 or so. They are definitely good. I am trying to sell one at the moment for one of my pupils and I wish I could buy it for myself as a spare because it is so lovely - much lighter than other plastics I have played and much mich lighter than wood! You can also get come good cheap clarinets in Pawn shops for reasonable prices.

I can't answer for blessing clarinets but I had a blessing flute for a long time - got me through my grade 6! The local music shop used to hire them out to people and I think pretty much everyone I learnt with started with a blessing flute. I don't know anyone who had any trouble with the flutes but I guess their clarinets could be a different matter!

Blessing clarinets are made in Taiwan and are sold by Woodwind/Brasswind - USA. http://www.wwbw.com/

I don't know much about them but I've heard that they are fine for beginners and at least are made in Taiwan, which has a decent reputation for cheap instruments.

I imagine a second hand Blessing must be very cheap. There's so many clarinets on the market!

If at all possible, go for the main 4 makes: Buffet, Leblanc, Selmer and Yamaha - in addition to the UK made Hanson.

I bought a second hand Yamaha 24ii years ago for about £40 and it was amazing value. It was the only clarinet I ever bought off Ebay that didn't need a thing doing to it!

Steve