Boosey & Hawkes Edgeware

I ,ve had a matched pair for 40 years. only ever needed routine maintance & i was suprised to read in other reviews about supposedly poor quality of metal in the keys. I never had any problems.the seem to be quite robust with both my self & my 2 sons lerning on them and taking them to & fro schools & colleges. Thumb rest could be improved. certainly good value for the cost

Boosey and Hawkes Edgware clarinets.

Priced well below where they perform, an excellent choice for student or advanced student on a budget. More agressive tone than the equivalent Buffet but not worse, just different. Tuning also in league with Buffet E series....assuming both are properly set up.

OK that's the good news. The bad news is the keywork. It seems that they used more than one type of metal and if you are unlucky you will have the brittle cast keys with lousy plating, Worse still they seem to wear out faster.

In short...underpriced, good wood, good soung...reliability depends on the particular instrument more than anything else.

PS I have A pair of edgwares A and Bb as well as a Bb Emperor. All are pleasant to play and the Emperor especially nice. I do however use Buffet R13 as my main horn and am unlikely to change. I also have an E12 Buffet....and wouldgladly swap it for an Emperor in similar shape.

I've had my Boosey & Hawkes for 30 years now, and its never let me down. Just been repadded - again! While others come & go, its outlasted them all, and still no major wear on the keys, and i use this a lot as I teach!!

I have owned three of them and while they are not a pro horn in either tuning or tone they do respond nicely with "clean" powerful tone and reasonable tuning.

Boosey & Hawkes Edgewares are better suited to band or Jazz than chamber music.

The worst feature is the poor quality keys and plating. (both nickel and silver). The keys are brittle....so don't even try to bend them unless you absolutely have to.

Also note they had several series...some wood some rubber.

Good clarinet for beginner. Tonality is poor in lowest register. Not great for more serious players.

It's a great clarinet for beginners, and I really enjoyed playing it. I can't really compare it to other clarinets, because I haven't really played many and I've been playing it for six years so any other clarinet would feel a bit strange to me.