Hi everyone,

I currently own a pair of LeBlanc Opus Clarinets. I was wondering if anybody knew whether there was any difference between these and the new models which are the LeBlanc Opus II 2000.

Thanks,

Lucid

There are a few changes in the keywork - I'm not sure if there are any tweeks to the bore shape. Both the Opus and the Opus II are very nice instruments in my opinion and high on the shortlist if I ever have to replace my current instruments.

Ok thanks. Yes I do like my Opus but just wondered if the Opus II was like an upgrade. It sounds as though it's not, although may be worth trying to see what the keywork is like.

Thanks. Lucid

EDIT: I am actually considering changing clarinets and was looking into Peter Eatons but one of my friends has tried them and wasn't 100% impressed. He thinks they restrict your sound to an English sound only, and I like to be able to play a wide mix of styles. He's also said it's very hard work to play them as their bores are much larger than I'm used to. But if anyone has any experience of playing LeBlancs and Peter Eatons I would be happy to hear opinions and comparisons.

Eaton make an 'international' bore as well as the wide bore instruments. I've never tried one, mostly in fear of falling in love with them as my bank balance wouldn't cope!

What is it about your current instruments that you aren't happy with?

The trouble is I got my pair of Opus clarinets in 2001 when I was still at college. I'd had a LeBlanc Espirit from grade 5 level and took my grade 8 on the same clarinet. I wanted to get an A clarinet and so my parents said they would take me to try out a range at Dawkes Music. I had LeBlanc in my head the whole time although did try Buffet and Yamaha models. They got me to try Bb and A clarinets so i could compare them. Then once I'd chosen my A model (the Opus) we went to pay for them and as a very nice surprise (for an early 19th birthday present) my parents told the staff we'd be taking the Bb too! I was very shocked but they'd been planning the whole time to get me a pair. So it's completely thanks to my parents that I've even got such professional clarinets. But at the time I'd only just done grade 8 the term before and feel that my playing has come on such a long way since then and I'm a lot more experienced. When I was choosing the Opus I wasn't necessarily thinking of everything I would think about now.

At the moment I'm not 100% happy with my playing and I'm not sure if I'm suited to the instrument anymore. I sometimes have intonation troubles on my clarinet. Assuming this was down to me one of my friends tried out mine and found exactly the same problems. I wouldn't have noticed such problems when I was younger and first got the clarinets. I can't always pass smoothly when slurring intervals and again have found that I can on a different clarinet. I love the sound but feel that it's no longer as impressive to me as when I first got my Espirit (going from a Buffet B12) which was a huge change in sound. I am able to play different styles on it but I'm not completely sure if I'm happy with it. I think I've probably matured a lot as a player now so the choice I made when I was 19 is probably completely different to one I'd make now.

I am intrigued by the Peter Eaton clarinets. As I said my friend (who was the one that tried my Opus for me) thinks that they are a lot of work and they restrict your sound. But he is a saxophonist mainly, where as I'm stronger on the clarinet so I may find trying them a completely different experience to him. Also when you look through all of the performers' comments you see that a lot of them think they are very flexible to play. Obviously there would be a major difference in ability between someone like me and Michael Collins but I'm encouraged by the comments I've read on them. It is a lot of money but if they really are as good as they sound then I think it would be worth it - although I don't know if I could get an A as well. Certainly not at the same time.

I have been in touch with Peter Eaton himself - just a very preliminary enquiry. But he has replied and said I'd be very welcome to come and try them to see if I want to invest in one in the future. My biggest worry though would be trying it, thinking it's great, buying it, and then a few months later finding that it's not actually as good as I initially thought. It's so hard to try instruments because the time is always limited and one of my biggest things is being able to play in different styles, and so achieving a lot of different sounds. But anyway this is all very idea based at the moment as I would still need to save a fair bit of money if I wanted to proceed.

Lucid

Help is at hand - I play a pair of Peter Eaton Internations, having changed to them in July of last year. Sound wise they are great and loads of people have said they sound great. The balance between registers is good, but tuning is a different matter. My tuning was AWFUL with and P Eaton mouthpiece, but I have recently had a new one made for me (thanks to the hard work of my teacher) which now makes them superb instruments. Tuning is no not an issue.

I suggest you try EVERYTING on the market - I went to Howarths and then on to P Eaton. I fell in love with the Eatons as soon as I played them, but the tuning let me down a few weeks later, but this new mouthpiece (made by Edward pillinger) is awesome. DONT rush into a desicion like I did (you will probably regret it and have to sort the problems like the mouthpiece)

As for Eatons restructing sound I don't really agree - I get quite a full sound but it differs so much per player. They are quite heavy (the big bell adds to the weight) but if you like Emma Johnsons sound and Michael Collins' then think about it. Buffets Tosca was second on my list but there were no Bbs in the country in July, but do try them

I hated Leblancs when I bought my clarinets - to much work, but as I say, its all personal preference and technique.

Hope this helps

Hi Jonathan,

Thank you very much for getting in touch - it's been hard to track down someone who actually owns the Eatons. My favourite clarinettist is Michael Collins but I do like Emma Johnson too. My friend said that the Eatons and people who use them are very much of the school of English clarinet playing. So he said it's great and you get a good English sound but that's it. Where as I've always played on French clarinets. I do agree that the Opus is hard work - it isn't as responsive as I'd like it to be.

Can I ask if you went through the process of going along to Peter Eaton's to try out the clarinets or did you buy them from somebody else? He has said to me that the clarinet comes with a mouthpiece, but I would get to try out and select from his whole range. I just wondered if you tried them out with different Peter Eaton mouthpieces. It is a concern of mine that I would try it, fall in love with it (as everyone seems to) and then find that after playing it in I'm struggling. I would definitely take my time over it though as this will be the first instrument purchase I've done myself - and it's a lot of money. But at the moment I'm not always happy when I'm playing because of the problems I have, so I am willing to invest money in this if it's going to be amazing.

Thanks, Lucid

I did not try the Eatons out with other mouthpieces (big mistake), but I suggest you do! Als, take along a tuner and tune really carefully. Take lots of reeds too and try playing with piano if you can - when I went I tried in a room with a piano, and I think his wife might play for you, or take along a CD backing.

I dont think he lets you take them out on trial, but if he does i would say do it, even if it does mean you can't have the 'discount for fast payment'. I dont know if you are still @ school, but if so pay through your school, so your school buy cos it saves paying VAT - the school get things VAT free

just be really careful try other clarinets too

Hi Jonathan,

Thanks again for getting back in touch. It's interesting to know the set up for testing out his clarinets. He doesn't let you have the clarinets on trial but if you buy a clarinet and can't decide on a mouthpiece he has said you can take away 2 or 3 to test at home.

I'm afraid I'm well out of school at 25! I'll definitely be making sure I make a careful choice. I'm going to enlist my friend/old teacher to come with me so that he can let me know what he thinks - just in case I miss anything important. Should be fun, although if I fall in love with them I'm going to have a little wait while I get the funds organised. That will involve having to sell my current clarinets so it could take a while.

Lucid

Ooh, a thread which has turned into a discussion about Peter Eaton clarinets

After years of saving like stink, I treated myself to a pair of Elites (the wide bore model) last year. The A was a real indulgence - I play the Bb far more - but I have no regrets about spending all that money, even if I am now foraging for wild berries so that I can eat

I don't actually live very far from the Eatons (one junction of the M25 away), so popping round to try them wasn't a problem. I tried both the International and the Elite, and liked them both, but settled on the Elite because I preferred the lower notes - they were slightly darker and more chocolatey, if that makes sense to anyone other than me.

As ever, the best advice is to try loads of instruments and decide then.

Hi Deborah,

Thanks for your post.

At the moment I'm thinking, if I try them out and fall in love with them, that I will try to sell my pair of Opus and probably have to just go for the Bb for the moment. I very rarely play my A as my current practice situation is limited, where as the Bb I use all the time. If I do it that way then it's not quite such an unrealistic idea of raising the funds, although saving for the A at a later point will take a little time. But I definitely think it's worth it if they are good, and hopefully it would be a long term investment. I've not been happy with my clarinet for quite a while now and think a change will be really good.

Can I ask if the Elites are a lot of hard work to play? From reading the info I've found on the two I think the Elites would appeal to me more - pending trying them out. I've read mixed opinions as to whether the Eatons are easier to play than other clarinets, or more difficult (down to the larger bores). I know it's mostly down to each individual player but I'm interested to see what others think too. I'm going to aim to go along just after Easter (if I can) as I've got some time off my morning job then. I'll probably go along to Dawkes first to try out some others, and save the (hopefully) best until last. Just in case I try the Eatons first and then don't give any others a fair chance.

Lucid

Hi There - Just thought you would like to know that Howarth's are showing a pair of second hand Internationals for sale and www.musicalinstrumentsales.co.uk are listing a pair of second hand Elites for sale, might be worth a look !

Also, I don't understand why your Opus is 'difficult', I play one, and don't notice any undue difficulty. Just wondered if maybe you have a little pad leak somewhere - might be worth checking before parting with your hard earned cash !

Anyway, best of luck in your search for your 'dream' clarinet. -D-

Hi and thanks for your post - I'll check our the two websites.

When I first got my Opus I wasn't as advanced a player as I am now - and I was a lot younger really. I've learnt a lot since then and have broadened the styles I play. When I tried the Opus I thought they were great but in comparison to my Espirit they were. Now I feel like I have to work very hard to try to achieve what I want with them and I don't always get what I want. I've been feeling like this for about 3 years now, so it's not a sudden change that's happened - and they are serviced yearly so everything is usually in order. I just think that I'm no longer suited to them and would like to try out something different - just to see if there are any improvements. But I'm going to make sure I'm very sensible about this and now, with a lot more experience as a performer and teacher, I know everything I'll be looking for when I try out these others - and most importantly I will be taking my time. I may very well try out the others and find no improvements, although hope that's not the case as it would probably suggest it's all down to me as a player. I'm sure there is something that I'm better suited to.

Anyway it will certainly be fun going out to try some different models - even if the end result is I'm better off with the Opus for the moment.

Lucid

I understand you're decision to want to change completely. It is the same reason that inspired my change to Selmer Eb.

I also agree with the 'try everything' school of thought. I'd recommend looking at the Howarth clarinets. I tried one of their A clarinets a couple of years ago, and it was a strong fight between head and heart before I decided I couldn't justify getting into debt for it.

I very briefly tried a Tosca Bb a few weeks ago - again I fell in love (1st time ever with a Buffet for me!). Don't discount the new Yamahas either, I haven't had chance to try one yet but I've heard really good things about them.

Most importantly.......enjoy the hunt. It took me 4 years to save up for and locate my lovely little Eb. I'm so glad I waited until I found the right instrument.

I just thought I'd give everyone an update. I'm finally going to try out the Peter Eatons on Friday! I can't wait. My friend/old teacher is also coming with me to try them. We play duets together so are hopefully going to be able to test how we sound playing together on them.

I was planning to have already made a trip to Dawkes to try out some other clarinets so that I can compare. But unfortunately due to being busy with exam accompanying and having a randomly bad leg that I need to rest I haven't been able to for now. It's a bit disappointed as I wanted to try the Peter Eatons after everything else - I guess because I'm seeing them as the best. Maybe wishful thinking.

For anyone interested I will update after my visit and give my honest opinions. Should be a fun day though.

Lucid

Well finally two weeks after the original try out was scheduled we have been to try out the Peter Eatons today. Me and my friend had great difficulty over the last couple of weeks and had to reschedule twice. But anyway we made it, despite the fact that both of us are suffering from colds.

We tried out the Internationals first and with our own mouthpieces. My initial thoughts were that it was very free blowing, but after we started warming up the sound was very good. Everything was speaking easier and the only problem I had was playing quietly and controlled on them - especially on the throat notes.

Then we swapped to the Elites and were found the closest matching Peter Eaton mouthpieces to our own - I think both tone chamber type A mouthpieces (warmth and darkness). First impressions were that it was very hard work due to the large bore mouthpieces. I wasn't able to get as loud a sound as I had on the International. My friend was suffering badly and kept losing his lip so two alternative mouthpieces were brought along for him to try. As I started to warm up on it I got a good impression of what the sound and the quality of playing would be like. I swapped to a tone chamber type AX mouthpiece (brighter, more free blowing and flexible) and it was much easier to play - although still tiring. Like the International it was speaking easily but I thought the sound was much better. I could play quieter without losing the tone and slurring large intervals worked without any splitting. As I got more used to it I could produce a very loud sound too. As a final test I went back to the International to use the small bore AX mouthpiece but again found it was too easy to play. I couldn't get the flexibility with tone and dynamics that I was getting on the Elite.

By this point my friend had attempted to phone his wife to let her know that he was interested in the pair of Internationals, but she wasn't there and he didn't want to part with over £5000 before discussing it with her. So he decided he was going to take the small bore AX mouthpiece which he had tried on his own Yamaha SE clarinet and fallen in love with. I said to the Eatons that I thought the Elite was the one I wanted to go for but my only reservation was that it was hard work and my lip was going. But I think it's down to the mouthpiece being a larger bore and obviously I'm not used to that. I also had the disadvantage of having a cold and not having played much for the last few days which will have affected my lip strength. So the next step is for me to make a start on selling my instruments to gather the money for the Elite Bb. I'll return to have another go on them and I think my friend will want to come back too.

But to summarise.... The sound was perfect and on my limited try out I had a glimpse at the flexibility I'd be able to achieve. Neither clarinet was as heavy as I was expecting, in fact I think they were both lighter than my Opus. They didn't have an adjustable thumbrest but me and my friend agreed that we didn't feel uncomfortable playing at the set rest position. I found the keywork on the Elite more comfortable than the International. They are supposed to be pretty much the same, although they did say the Elite key spacing was slightly different. I was able to produce faster and clearer tonguing on both clarinets than I have ever done on my Opus. For years I've thought that fast tonguing is something I couldn't conquer, but it seems that it may be mostly down to my Opus. The intonation was better on both, but sound wise the Elite won it for me. I was also able to achieve different sounds on both instruments, so the restricted sound idea was completely wrong. I also played the Elite while my friend played his Yamaha and there wasn't a clash in sound between the two either.

So I am now feeling very pleased and am going to dig out my spare instruments this weekend to see what I can sell and how much I can raise. I just hope I don't have to wait too long before I can return to pick one up.

Lucid

Hi Lucid,

Many thanks for taking the trouble to update us on the Peter Eaton testing. I'm sure many people will find it enlightening, I know I certainly did. I had the oportunity to try out a nearly new Opus II last week. I didn't find a significant difference to my Opus I but I did think the Opus II was a bit 'tighter'. I have a nagging feeling that this is due to slight leaks of my pads (they are the originals and are now about 8 years old), so I think I'll get my Opus re-padded with some Super Pads. I was particularly interested in your comments about speed of tonguing, therefore, before commiting to a re-pad I intend to get my teacher's opinion on my instrument in it's present state - should make for an interesting experiment !

Cheers for Now -D-

I've just realised I wrote faster and quicker tonguing. That should be faster and clearer. Thanks for the input dwrglas-y-gwynt. We really had a good time and Peter and Joanna Eaton are very nice and helpful. I'm just sorry I couldn't bring one home with me as I will be feeling even less impressed with my Opus now. Still hopefully it won't be too long.

Lucid

Best of luck with the fund raising. I have a feeling it won't be too long a wait !

-D-

Yay! My Elites would like to wish you the very best on your imminent purchase.

Hi everyone. Unfortunately I'm no closer to buying my new clarinets . However if I ever am I will need to purchase the pair as I'm now in an orchestra, so it will be even longer to wait.

The reason I'm updating is because one of my friends is concerned that there seems to be a problem with Peter Eaton clarinets and that they are prone to cracking. I wondered if anyone else had heard of this or experienced this etc.?

I can still remember how good the clarinet was to play but if there is an issue with cracking with these particular clarinets then that will be a factor in my decision.

Thanks, Lucid

Not had any problems with mine cracking.

... and mine are 20 years old and gorgeous.

Hi Deborah and Clarimoo.

Thanks for your input. I think my friend is concerned that if I'm ever in a position to be able to get them that I might spend this huge amount of money and then find there's problems down the line.

If anyone has any other useful input then I'd appreciate it. Thanks, Lucid

Have never owned a Peter Eaton, but I know people who do, and without exception they've had no worries with them.

Thank you Barry. Ok unless I hear any particularly nasty stories I think I will continue to try to plan how on earth I am ever going to be able to afford the pair.

Thanks again, Lucid

Hi everyone. Just as an update for the last week I've been using a secondhand pair of Peter Eaton Elites borrowed from one of my friends. I also used them last night for a show I'm doing this week to see how they are when doubling. The Bb is very well used as it used to belong to one of the BBC Big Band players (I think) so is quite clanky feeling. However the sound is good, although not quite the quality I remember when I was trying them out at Peter Eaton's, but these particular clarinets are quite old. My sound is much more fluent on them and they are very responsive. The tuning is excellent. It really shows what a big difference it is when I'm playing on a decent clarinet. My Opus are in desperate need of a service I think but I'm still not sure that that will solve all of the problems I've got with them.

However I've just depressed myself as I thought I'd check in at Peter Eaton's website to see whether the prices have changed and they've gone up to £2755 each! They were about £2595 I think. So now to get a pair of clarinets and two cases it would cost a grand total of £5808. Even if I sold my current clarinets for £3000 I'd still need almost that amount again. I think this is still going to be a dream for me as I am no where near having spare money to start saving for new instruments.

I also tried out a Buffet R13 during the dress rehearsal of the show and even that was more responsive than my Opus. I'm not sure if the tuning was as good as on the Elite though.

I think my plan for the moment is to get my Opus serviced and see if tuning issues can be resolved and then take it from there. However if the service doesn't resolve problems then I may need to look into trying some cheaper clarinets to see how they compare.

Lucid

It might be worth looking for 2nd hand Eaton instruments: currently Howarth's have a Bb for £1700 and a (as new) pair for £4750, and they usually seem to have some in stock.

Chris

Hi Chris. Yes the ones I'm playing are going to be for sale but they are still going to end up being quite expensive to buy the pair (which I need) and as this one is quite clanky I feel that if I'm spending that much I'd want something that's new. I've been told I can try these ones out for as long as I want so that I can get a really good impression of them and whether they are going to be versatile enough.

Lucid