Conn-Selmer Prelude Clarinet

Conn Selmer Prelude.

Tone: very good for this price range as it's machined out of hard rubber and not moulded plastic.

Keywork : Ok, well positioned , suits large or small hands and not soft.

Having owned a new Yamaha ycl 250 at twice the price I would say the tone is as good and a little warmer/dark due to the rubber body perhaps, also in tune. The yamaha I sold on pretty quickly, I shan't be selling this one. The keywork I find more comfortable than the Yamaha. Case does it's job. Comparing it to a Cousenon Monopole I had it's not up there but the Cousenon is a professional instument. It's made in China but then again the Yamaha is made in Indonesia and the other popular student line of clarinets are I believe made now in China and not in Germany any more, also LH little pinkie keys have nylon pins which could break, the Selmer has solid stepped keys.

Conn Selmer could not afford to produce a bad clarinet and damage their reputation and in this model they have made a good one, quite good enough for the first couple of years or as a back up and shop around and it can be got for under 200 pounds. It will probably get a greenish tinge over the years, all hard rubber goes like this in about 15 years, but by that time I guess it will have moved on.