Jean Paul USACL-300 Student Clarinet B Flat and Rico Bb Clarinet Reeds (2.5 Strength, 10-Pack)

my son loves it

Pros: It's a great clarinet. It looks good and sounds good. -- tune is spot on. Plays much better (and easier) than my 40+ year old Vito.Cons: There do seem to be some QC issues. I didn't/haven't have/had any problems with bent keys, but there were 3-4 loose screws. One was backed pretty far out. Others here have also reported the same problem. Since I read their reviews before I received the instrument, I was prepared with a screwdriver and tightened everything as I unpackaged. Inversely, there were a couple screws that are a little chewed up, like there was trouble installing them. Finally, I'm pretty sure it's not normal, but two of the keys had their labels left on. Yes, it's trivial, but it speaks to the lack of proper quality control.Overall: I'm happy with the purchase. If I had to, I'd buy another one.

Disclaimer - I'm an old guy and my experience with Clarinets is ZERO.This clarinet appears well made, does not seem overly fragile. I do pay attention to where I grab it to twist things together. Everything fit well without needing excessive force to put together.I understand mechanical things well. I get no sense that this Clarinet is going to come apart soon. All the key actions are smooth and pads seem to land square on the holes. I get no sense that they are not sealing properly. The reason I say this is I did listen to several videos of Clarinets when things are wrong. The issues I relate to had to do with technique and not physical faults in a Clarinet.As far as sound, here I have no experience, so not much to comment. I have watched several youtube videos and can say mine sounds nothing like what I have listened to. So either my Clarinet is defective or it's me. I'm betting it's me. After playing with some different reeds and now a couple hours on it I only annoy a few neighborhood cats as I continue to sort things out. Initial progress going from no sound to horribly squeaky sound to now ( just work on it ) went fairly quickly. I look forward to to getting better.The only miss to me is the case. Everything fits in it well but...... There are two zippered pockets, one on top that is tight fitting meaning you could slip some sheets of paper in there and one on the bottom which has some depth to it so you could put supplies in it like reeds, cork grease, cleaning cloth.... The problem is these are all things you would like easy access to while assembling or taking apart the Clarinet. It would have made much more sense to put the bigger pouch on top. This would have given you access to the bits you want while the case is open to get to the Clarinet parts.So far I think this a really good price for what you get.

Worth every penny and then some. I never played a reed instrument before buying this, and I was dubious whether I'd get an instrument, or a clarinet shaped object. When I pulled it out of the case, I didn't even know how to put it together. I'd never touched a reed before let alone assembled a ligature. I couldn't even get a note to come out at first. That's how new I was to this.It's been 2 months now with near daily practice. I have no teacher. I can play several songs, circular breath, play across the break in intermediate songs like The Pink Panther theme, and I can hold a note for 55 seconds without circular breathing. I am not some kind of wood wind prodigy. I credit having a GREAT instrument with my progress.Out of the case I was shocked at how heavy this clarinet is. It's heavier than my flute, which is all metal. The key material is also solid and did not require any adjustment in several weeks of playing now. The tenons are tight, but soon get to a comfortable resistance with frequent cork greasings at cleaning time.I ditched the stock mouth piece after a month and a half and got a Vandoren 5JB 88 with a Vandoren 1.5 reed. Just do it. You won't look back. I now have an instrument that is going to last me a long time before I need to upgrade, and to me that is what makes a good starter instrument. One that you don't need to immediately toss because it's holding you back or breaks.I also replaced the ligature with a single screw leather one which makes reed cleaning easier. The pads are still in good shape, no leaky keys, and it plays from bottom of the cleff up to the 3rd octave without any off or slow notes.I have a few minor nit picks though. As it came out of the box, it was 1/2 a semitone flat with either barrel in use. Changing the mouth piece solved that problem. You can compensate with your embouchure but as a new player I found it hard to do that AND concentrate on my scales at the same time. Mine did not come with a replacement reed either so be sure to buy a box of reeds. The stock mouth piece played best for me with a 3.0 reed strength. 2.0 was too easy to over blow and squeak in the lower register.I also recommend you get a stand that stores in the bell. I rarely disassemble my instrument now, and instead keep it next to my favorite chair, ready to grab and practice at any time.I've bought a few inexpensive instruments before on Amazon like a trumpet and a flute, which were around the same price as this clarinet, but far inferior in terms of quality, weight, and build. I feel like I got a really good deal on this clarinet at $180. With the new mouth piece I'm about $270 in, and feel like I have a $800 instrument.

My son has been using this clarinet for school for about one year. Today we had to take it in for repair. Bent key. Found out the keys are a soft metal. So they bend easy. Was told we will have issues going forward with this instrument. Definitely not intermediate. More beginner, but I wish I would of just rented one instead of buying this one.

I bought this “used” but it was like new. Grandson is very happy with it. So much cheaper then renting from the music store

I wasn't super thrilled about having to buy an instrument in the first place. My kid doesn't want to play it but she had to do this or sing....so here we are. She has been playing it for months now and still cannot make a sound. I don't know if that's the instruments fault or the lack of true want from my kid. If I had to guess I would say the kid. The instrument looks nice, came well packaged, nice carry case. I couldn't tell you about sound quality. It has made one sound when I attempted to have it make any kind of noise, and it wasn't pleasant. This was a way better deal than having to rent one. So guess it's still a win?

El profesor de música pedía marcas de mayor calidad y eso signica más costosas, sin embargo no puedes gastar tanto en un instrumento para un aprendiz, para un principiante es aceptable./ No es un instrumento para profesionales