I ordered this barrel to be used with my Buffet E12F as I was looking for a slightly sweeter, more focused sound. Unfortunately for me, I had some issues when I received the barrel that were 100% my fault. In my haste to try it out, I didn't let the barrel acclimate to my environment and tried sticking it on to my clarinet immediately after grabbing it out of a 110 degree mailbox. The barrel slipped on but then was immediately stuck. I emailed Backun about it, and they responded very quickly with excellent customer support. I took their advice and headed to my repair tech who was able to get the barrel off and ream it to fit my clarinet perfectly. After that I was able to really take it for a spin and there were a few immediate differences.
-The throat tones were more focused and much more in tune
- The entire range of the clarinet had a tad bit more even resistance
- There was a little bit extra resistance overall compared to the stock barrel
- And last but not least, the sound was more focused with a little more timbre in the sound
After playing on this barrel for awhile I can say it definitely sounds different, better in almost all aspects. I am absolutely glad I purchased this barrel and will definitely look into their other products once I'm ready. If you have a student clarinet and don't want to fork out another $1,000+, then I would highly recommend considering one of Backun's barrels.
