Backun Alpha Bb Clarinet - Silver/Nickel Clarinet Barrels & Bells and they're insanely expensive

and they're insanely expensive

and when he gets them he sends me pictures of things like chipped tone holes that he has to fix right off the bat

felt under foot

The tip opening is smaller than the B40

and there are magnets in there to hold them in place that way

Backun Alpha Bb Clarinet - Silver/Nickel Clarinet Barrels & Bells and they're insanely expensiveThe Alpha is, hands down, one of the two best student Bb clarinets on the market (the other being the Royal Global MAX Bb). It sounds like a professional clarinet I'd challenge you to hear a significant difference from 3 feet or 300 feet. Here's the dirty secret of student clarinets: most of them are designed by corporate product teams optimizing for "good enough at scale." The Yamaha YCL 255 is fine. The Buffet Prodige is fine. They're the beige