W. Schrieber 6010s

Thanks to Forum member Skyfacer for this excellent review from 2010.

REVIEW Schreiber 6010s Bb Clarinet.(17 Keys / 6 Rings)

got my new Schreiber 6010s clarinet from Sax & Woodwind of Camperdown NSW, Australia in 2010. The cost of this instrument was $AUS595 ($US522) and it will be used as another of my knock-about instruments for outdoor use, etc. It was ready to play, straight out of the case, no adjustments required. The serial # is 411426 and is entirely made in Germany. It is apparently a German made (Buffet) B12 with certain German features such as a wrap-around register key and possibly some sort of German bore.

The thing that I notice when first handling the instrument in it's case is the weight of it. At first I thought that the case was empty, but it turns out that this clarinet is a light-weight instrument, weighing in at only 690g (1.5 lbs) fully assembled (minus ligature and reed). This clarinet is a plastic (ABS Resin) instrument with a semi-matte finish giving it the appearance of ebony and it has silver plated key work. Silver plating on a plastic instrument! Must be a European thing. Anyway the information states that the 6010 has Nickel Silver key work and Silver plating.

The mechanism is of the lighter type that could be described as "elegant". No chunky key work here. I have already did a week's playing on it and the key work is strong. But then I don't use heavy handed fingering. It has a wrap around speaker key which is an old idea. Looks rather "sexy" . I have noticed that the register tube is about half a centimeter lower down the pipe than the other standard type and the bore intrusion is only about 2.5 mm. It is stated that there is improved intonation because of the special positioning of the register tube. Be careful when putting the instrument together as the odd positioning of the wrap-around register key makes it very prone to unintentional bending.

This clarinet does seem to play very well in tune across it's entire compass and goes to show that there has been considerable improvement in the making of plastic clarinets in recent times. My own testing of the intonation is to play along with orchestral backing CDs. I have no trouble playing in tune with this instrument and no need to do any serious adjusting to play in tune, but I suspect that as this is a basic beginners clarinet the intonation would be "set". A nice "safe" clarinet for beginners . It has a 15mm bore . It comes with one barrel (65mm) and is said to be tuned to A442. The usual student mouthpiece is supplied, a molded plastic ESM.

One thing I have noticed however is that the lower joint flares suddenly about one centimeter just before the bell. It appears that the makers have done some sort of a German type bore. However, the bell has a very small (less than 1mm) flange and this results in the lower joint not matching up with the bell. When assembled and looking into the bell you can see a \'step-down of about 1 mm. This doesn't seem to have any effect on the intonation

Back to the key work , one nice feature that I have noticed is that the right-hand E/B key is extended about 5mm further than the other keys of the right-hand pinky keys. I think this feature should be on all clarinets. The "crow's foot" is a bit on the thin side but has a nice layer of felt on it (for quietness) which adds to it's strength. As for the rest of the key work, as I mentioned before , it is elegantly made with nice roundish (spoon like) keys. No skimping of metal underneath either. It has a nicely made thumb rest with 4 adjustment positions. I assume that the elongated set screw is also for hooking on a neck strap for use by young players if necessary. This thumb-rest has no cork on it though but is nicely sculpted for the thumb.

There is one feature that is a disappointment however in that this clarinet has inherited that unfortunate Buffet idea of using nylon pins for the left-hand E/B and F#/C# keys. Anyone who bangs down on these keys is going to find later on that they may very well shear off , and then it's a major repair job , perhaps to replace them with metal pins and gold-beaters skin. They are being used to give "quietness" to the action and it must be said that all the mechanism has a nice quiet action to it. The pads are of the double fish-skin type and seem to seal very well.

All up , this is an excellent clarinet for beginners to start on, light weight with nicely sculpted ergonomic key work and the price will suit those on a tight budget but still want to have a well made clarinet which is in tune with itself.

But Ebonite or wood it ain't . I have a lot of fun with these fantastic plastic clarinets , in that I try to improve on the tonal quality of them. Not that a plastic clarinet doesn't have a nice sound , they do , but it's kinda on the bright (lighter) side of things. How to get a"'darker" sound out of them and perhaps more projection as well ? Well, by matching these plastic Clarinets up with a higher quality mouthpiece and a better quality barrel , the results can be very interesting. I'm using a Vandoren B40 Lyre with one of Tom Ridenours fat Ebonite barrels on both this clarinet and also the Jupiter 631 and I end up with a clarinet that has a full bodied, lovely "round" sound , good enough for most of the jobs that I do , such as weddings, quite often outdoors in all kinds of weather, and the usual play outs at retirement villages etc.

Welcome to the modern world of quality non wooden Clarinets.