Hi guys,
Looking for suggestions to buy a clarinet for my kid. The school recommended is Yamaha YCL-255. The cheapest I have found on Australian sites is $695.
AliExpress has a few sellers selling for US $175.
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/UPS-DHL-free-shipping-Hot-Sa…
Just wondering if these are genuine Yamaha products and are worth buying or not.
Advice is appreciated.
Good to see more people trying out clarinet :)
The price seems too cheap to be true… but the ad looks so legit.
You can also checkout Gumtree or eBay for 2nd hand clarinet. I know some people don't like the idea of 2nd hand woodwind instrument, but properly cleaned & serviced one can still be quite good value comparing to new.
I bought a second hand Yamaha YCL-250 (similar but older model to YCL-255) back in 2013 for my daughter. It was ~$180 from eBay, paid another $40 to have it serviced in the shop and it plays like new. She has now passed AMEB Clarinet grade 4, and is still playing the same Yamaha. When enquire whether she needs an upgrade, even her teacher (an AMEB examiner who plays in Opera House this weekend) said that it is fine.
So yeah — find cheap alternatives or 2nd hand.
With something like the clarinet, the mouthpiece (and obviously the reeds) can be changed easily enough if it's beyond cleaning. As far as the other woodwinds go, cleanliness isn't really an issue (oboe having no oral contact to anything other than the reed, flute having a metal mouthpiece that has no "wet" contact).
Thanks scotty. I will keep scouring eBay/gumtree for 2nd hand. I have also emailed the teacher to find out if any cheaper alternate can be used.
I'd give this about a 1% chance of being legit. The seller never mentions that it is actually a Yamaha in the description, only indication is the logos in the pictures. The biggest issue is that in the 4th picture the clarinet bears no logos on it, the 4th picture is clearly not a yamaha at all, I can't see any reason why a legit seller would include pictures like that.
The other issue is that fakes can be quite convincing at first glance, however they are generally abysmal as an instrument, you may receive one that looks the part but will be near on impossible to play.
No,steer clear just in case. There are unfortunately fake Yamaha/Buffet student clarinets on Ali. Gumtree and a willingness to travel across town are your friend….
Oh - never thought of Aliexpress.
Just bought my kid a clarinet. Would also like to know if this is legit.