vaun e klapprad Uebel Vision Bb/A Clarinet

vaun e klapprad Uebel Vision Bb/A ClarinetReleased in October, 2025, the Vision is one of Uebels two top level clarinets, designed in collaboration with Ricardo Morales of the Philadelphia Orchestra. It sits beside the Uebel Zenit, but aims at a different kind of player. Where the Zenit favors a broad, dark sound, the Vision is cleaner, quicker, and more focused. If you think of the Zenit as Uebels Romantic clarinet, the Vision is its Modern onestill warm, but with more projection and a with

Released in October, 2025, the Vision is one of Uebel’s two top-level clarinets, designed in collaboration with Ricardo Morales of the Philadelphia Orchestra.

It sits beside the Uebel Zenit, but aims at a different kind of player. Where the Zenit favors a broad, dark sound, the Vision is cleaner, quicker, and more focused.

If you think of the Zenit as Uebel’s “Romantic” clarinet, the Vision is its “Modern” one—still warm, but with more projection and a with a tighter, more defined core to the sound. I think it's intended for players who want a French-style response and evenness, but with Uebel’s German-style build precision.

In terms of geometry, the Vision’s bore falls in the medium-bore, polycylindrical family—similar in feel to the Buffet R13/RC family, Royal Global Firebird, or Backun Essence. The result is a clarinet that responds immediately, centers pitch easily, and stays consistent across registers.

Sound and Response

The Vision’s tone is centered and compact, with less breadth than the Zenit and more definition than an R13. It projects easily without needing to be driven hard, and the sound retains a stable core at both soft and loud dynamics. I personally love that I can push the air, vary the color, and it won’t ever lose its focus. I also love that the response is quick. It's just a great clarinet to play.

The Mopane version is darker and more neutral — the wood kind of gets out of the way and lets you do your thing. Best intonation I've measured on any clarinet, by the way. The trade-off? Less brightness. If that's not your thing, stick with the Grenadilla.

Design and Mechanism

The Vision includes - standard! - Uebel’s linked double-slide vent system, which automatically corrects the pitch of low E and F when the register key is pressed. It’s one of those things you stop noticing once you have it, because those notes just stay in tune.

It also carries over features from Uebel’s German-system models: reinforced tenon rings for rigidity, and a slightly weighted bell that adds stability in the low register and helps the sound project.

Build quality is what you’d expect from Uebel—precise keywork (gold-plated posts, silver-plated keys), smooth action, and clean acoustical finish work.

Each Vision is aged Mopane, with the wood being is air-dried for over ten years before being turned into a clarinet. The long seasoning process minimizes the chances of cracking. If you are interested in how Uebel dries their wood, keep reading below.

Resistance — 4 / 10 (Light)

The Vision is one of the more free-blowing professional clarinets you’ll find. It offers noticeably less resistance than an R13, a bit less than a Zenit, and more openness than a Backun Lumiére.

That lighter resistance gives the Vision a wide dynamic range and allows for subtle color changes without extra effort. The trade-off is that it won’t “hold” your tone for you—you have to shape it yourself. For players with developed air control, that’s a feature, not a drawback.

In general, more resistance in a clarinet design usually keeps the louder dynamic ranges from spreading; the clarinet "holds its core" and focus, but will provide a smaller dynamic range (on both ends, loud and soft) and smaller color palette. A less resistant clarinet typically provides a much wider tonal palette to choose from, but will require more control from the player to control pitch and sound consistency.

When listening for how a clarinet responds to added air pressure and embouchure control, listen to the Weber example (wide dynamic range and color range), then the Berlioz excerpt (wide dynamic range, but narrow color range), and finally the Gershwin excerpt (narrow dynamic range and narrow color range). You will hear how these clarinets respond — for better or worse! — to my input as a clarinet player.

The Uebel warranty provides two years bumper-to-bumper, and an industry-leading five years against cracking and other wood-related issues.

This instrument comes with

• Clarinet case
• Vandoren B45 mouthpiece
• Four barrels (65mm, 66mm), two each of the standard and reverse taper
• Swab, shoulder strap (for case), cork grease, warranty card, etc.

All earspasm instruments come with a 7-day trial. Please read my trial policy before pulling out that credit card.

A geeky deep-dive into Uebel seasons their wood:

I often joke that Uebel is a wood company that happens to make clarinets.

Uebel's wood seasoning process is unique among the manufacturers I carry. I toured their wood storage facility, and while I wasn't allowed to take pictures, let me describe it to you. The best comparison is that it's like a big wine cellar, located across the street from their office in Wiesbaden, Germany. Rather than buying billets (square logs) of raw wood, Uebel purchase the wood pre-turned. In other words, they're clarinet-shaped cylinders, with a small hole in the middle (which will become the bore). Then it sits there for 10 years or more, until it's made into a clarinet, so all I saw was stacks and stacks of wood tubes, floor-to-ceiling, just...sitting there. For a decade.

The cellar is not climate controlled, so each piece of wood is subjected to at least 40 season changes before it's made into a clarinet. Uebel's logic is that letting the wood just naturally season (inside and out — hence the pre-drilled bore hole), if it's going to crack, it'll crack before you get it; if it doesn't crack, it'll be much less likely to crack once you break it in.

As I see it, there's a potential downside to naturally drying the wood: kiln-drying (like Backun, et al) allows you to control the wood's humidity more carefully, because the whole process is actively managed. Naturally air-drying the wood is less scientific, and the moisture content of the wood varies with each piece. That said, the proof is in the pudding: of all the clarinets I sell, Uebel instruments seem to crack less often then others.

Tariffs: Achtung, Wallet

As of April 2025, the U.S. decided German clarinets are a national threat. The punishment: a shiny new tariff that adds about $700 per instrument. I’m splitting it with you, because I believe in shared suffering—and because Mahler deserves better.

FAQ:

Q: What if I'm in New York and want to try it in person?
A: Contact me to set up an appointment, and let's do it!

Q: Does the instrument come with a warranty?
A: Yes, it comes with the standard Uebel 5-year warranty against cracks, and 2 years for mechanical issues. If you ever have any problem with the instrument, I'm your quarterback. I'll take care of the whole process, just let me know you need help, and I'll take it from there.

Q: What happens if it's damaged during shipping?
A: Inspect the package before you sign off at delivery! If there are any issues resulting from shipping, we have taken out an insurance policy to cover damage (and loss). But we need you to document this damage or we can't do anything to help. Please read my trial policy for how to handle this issue, should it arise.

Q: If I decide to return it, do have to pay return shipping costs?
A: Not if you live in the Continental US! Because I want you to find the right instrument for you, and doing so online is harder than doing so in-person, I will cover the return shipping. Please read my trial policy for trial and return rules.

Q: Do you ship internationally?
A: Yes. You can add your shipping address when checking out to see what the shipping costs will be before taking the plunge. Note that VAT and Customs Duties are not included in this cost.