CLARINETS DIRECT

020 85811113 or 07787 770071

PAIR OF YAMAHA, CSG III CUSTOM, CLARINETS, £4745

A mint condition pair of Yamaha CSG CUSTOM III clarinets, which are a commission sale. Clarinets Direct is fortunate to count a great many of the UK's top professional clarinettists as our customers: One such is Nicholas Carpenter, for many years Principal Clarinet of the Bournemouth Sinfonietta, and member of the LPO. Nick's recording of the Mozart Clarinet Quintet was chosen as the recommended recording by BBCR3 CD review. He chose this pair from many examples from Yamaha in 2012, and used them in the LPO, until he left in 2013. Yamaha made great claims for the CSG range; a new bore design is supposed to provide great tonal richness, as found in older instruments made from properly aged Grenadilla. Certainly the final incarnation of the CSG, the CSG III, has been a great success with many players.
The instruments are pristine, "as new", with perfect condition "Hamilton" key work. The wood is finest unstained Grenadilla, in mint condition, no cracks or damage. The Bb has matching serial nos. 01042. The bore design features a reverse taper to the barrel. Unlike Buffet polycylindrical bore designs, the instrument features a taper also at the top of the upper joint. The bore at the middle of the instrument, however, is similar to the Buffet Bb R13/RC. Consequently the intonation and evenness of this instrument do feel like an improvement over Buffet standard designs. The pads are white leather, in "as new" condition with lower trill keys and register key in cork. The clarinet comes with 2 original barrels, a standard of 56mm and a short of 55mm. The A has matching serial nos. 01014. Unlike the Bb this A comes with the corrective key, operated by the RH thumb, to raise the pitch on low E & F. Nick felt that the A needed this additional vent key, but that the intonation of the Bb on the lowest pitches was fine, so consequently he chose a Bb without this key. Again the pads are white leather, in "as new" condition with lower trill keys and register key in cork. The clarinet comes with 2 original barrels, a standard of 56mm and a short of 54mm. Again, in common with Buffet pairs, the A is of slightly larger bore than the Bb. The double case and part leather cover are also like new.