Hanson HE-5V Reviews

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Good Points: Well made, good looking clarinet that has a well rounded tone. Ebonite is easy to look after and durable. Ideal first clarinet with good back-up from a lovely company. Better than buying used.

Bad Points: Standard backpack does not offer good protection for the trill keys.

General comments: I took up the clarinet when I was 7, using my dad's old wooden Buisson. This has a French bore and is a tough blow for me. The Hanson is much easier, my dad getting it for me when he knew I would stick at playing. It took a while to get the right mouthpiece though. My dad was given a choice when he bought the clarinet, but he choose the alternative Vandoren that still sits on a shelf waiting for me to 'grow' into it.
I now find a Vandoren standard no2 reed and E45 mouthpice delivers the right mix between ease of blow and tone; I prefer a softer reed but get a rocket from my teacher if I put one on as she says it makes me sound too flat and dull. Grrrrr

I am not really that interested in the instrument itself but more what it does. It just works and my dad makes sure it is serviced once a year and even cleans it for me! It started to squeak a bit ahead of my Grade 4 exam, but this was fixed by Hanson for nothing. I am due to take my Grade 5 in a couple of weeks. My dad did get me an SE model to try, but I much preferred my 'old' clarinet. So we will take a trip up to Yorkshire and try the higher grade models if I decide to go for Grade 6. The model I tried was the SE BTR. It smelt of plastic and sounded horribe. I have tried friends Yamaha and Buffet clarintets. They are no better or worse than my HE-5, but they were a lot more expensive and cost a lot to be fixed.
My dad helped with this review, but this is what I think.