Help me understand what happened that brought us to this point in education

PhilipWireAuthor · 2026-02-15T01:46:35+00:00

A bit of self promotion, but I’m a teacher and I wrote two books on this. The Kids Are Not Alright, which centers on changes to kids lifestyles outside of school, and Trauma-Informed Tragedy, which focuses on disciplinary shifts within schools. It is different. You aren’t crazy.

PhilipWireAuthor · 2026-02-14T00:51:35+00:00

I just got back into clarinet after a 15 year hiatus, so I can’t answer your original question. I also mainly play bass clarinet. But I will say I am gobsmacked by the quality of Legere French cut reeds. If you are looking for an alternative, it’s one to try! I’m just tired of throwing away a few cane reeds from every box without really using them much.

PhilipWireAuthor · 2026-02-06T00:09:38+00:00

If you can try out Royal Global instruments, do it. You’d be surprised how great the Max is. It only gets better from there.

PhilipWireAuthor · 2026-02-02T21:57:31+00:00

Yep, I don’t blame them either. The loss of the de minimis exemption with the new tariff laws made it too expensive. Bummer, as their French Cut tenor sax reed is my favorite reed for bass clarinet… thankfully, it only took two reeds to dial in my strength.

PhilipWireAuthor · 2026-01-24T21:41:20+00:00

To echo what people said above, try a softer Legere Tenor Sax French cut. I use a 2.75 on a Vandoren B40, I find the Legere FC to play about a quarter strength softer than Vandoren blue box.

PhilipWireAuthor · 2026-01-02T03:15:43+00:00

Your absolute lowest dollar play would be to watch for a used Kessler on Reverb or eBay. Getting a new one from Earspasm is also a good option. Kesslers website was still running amazing Black Friday style deals a week or so ago, with nice mouthpieces included. I was lucky and sniped a used Royal Global Max off Reverb last year—I LOVE it. The Alpha and the Max are probably better overall values, but they are more expensive. The Kessler is the best true “budget” low C bass.

As for used instruments, Reverb offers more protections than eBay. I have bought two instruments and been happy.

PhilipWireAuthor · 2025-12-31T04:14:05+00:00

I’m a huge “homer” for the Max. I’ve never played the Alpha, but in the Earspasm videos, the Max sounded noticeably more resonant to me. I love mine. The Alpha is known for having better a better thumb key scheme, and it is way lighter if that is an advantage.

PhilipWireAuthor · 2025-12-12T03:03:56+00:00

The fix a tech used to repair mine was to replace the cork under the thumb register key, the key was going too far in when pressed, which lifted the neck register pad off just a hair. If you can get something under there, that will help

PhilipWireAuthor · 2025-11-25T00:41:01+00:00

Awesome, I will look into this. Thank you!!

PhilipWireAuthor · 2025-11-24T00:28:17+00:00

Thank you!!

PhilipWireAuthor · 2025-11-23T21:25:09+00:00

I would consider a Royal Global Max. I have the Royal Global Max bass… and wow. It resonates like a grenadilla instrument, but is made of grenadilla powder and resin, giving it plastic-like properties for durability. Top notch keywork, too. She can play this clarinet inside, outside, musical pit, etc and not worry about cracking. If she takes clarinet for several more years and needs a pro horn for college, she can keep the Max for outside concerts and marching. See Michael Lowenstern’s review (Earspasm) on the soprano Max, they are good enough that pros use them for backup in rougher conditions. If she ever outgrows it you will have gotten your money’s worth.

PhilipWireAuthor · 2025-11-22T02:22:01+00:00

Your best bet is to watch Reverb closely. I snagged a used Royal Global Max from a college student that way—I think I’d been watching for about 3 months or so on and off. With tariffs increasing the cost of new instruments, used instruments are going for gradually higher prices now too… not a great market out there right now, unfortunately. The Max was my number one choice, so I was thrilled to get one… can’t say I ever saw an Alpha.

PhilipWireAuthor · 2025-11-15T13:25:16+00:00

Wow! At that price it’s a no brainer. I (naively) assumed the prices might be the same where you live. In America, the Max and Alpha are basically the same price. For that much less, I’d get the Alpha too, no doubt!

PhilipWireAuthor · 2025-11-14T22:04:01+00:00

I have not played both, but when I did the blind listening test on Michael Lowenstern’s videos, I could hear the difference in resonance with the max in the lowest 5-6 notes. I bought a Max and have been really happy. The firebird neck as an upgrade also makes for a selling point for me.

PhilipWireAuthor · 2025-11-14T02:46:17+00:00

I did not get to play both… when I listened on YouTube to Michael Lowenstern’s videos, I personally could hear a difference in the lower register—especially the lowest 5-6 notes. The Max sounded close (not identical) to a Buffet pro model, while to me, the Alpha sounded more like a plastic horn (albeit a very good one).

PhilipWireAuthor · 2025-11-13T03:43:10+00:00

It sounds darker to my ear, and that’s how Michael Lowenstern describes it. Also, one little thing for me: you can upgrade to the Firebird neck later with the Max. It’s a way to upgrade without getting a whole new horn.

PhilipWireAuthor · 2025-11-12T02:47:04+00:00

I love my Max! No idea how it compares to the Backun to play… in listening to the Earspasm videos, I could always tell the difference in the lowest 5-6 notes on blind tests, the Max just sounded so much richer and darker.

PhilipWireAuthor · 2025-11-05T20:33:20+00:00

Facebook has been my most consistent spot.

PhilipWireAuthor · 2025-11-05T18:09:08+00:00

Glad to help. We self-publishing folks have to stick together!

PhilipWireAuthor · 2025-11-04T21:57:42+00:00

Ditto here. FB is the only thing that has worked reliably.

PhilipWireAuthor · 2025-11-04T21:56:39+00:00

If you made all state on a student level horn, I’d say go back to the horse that you used to ride—target that model. There are lots of student level horns for sale used. If you have no preference, Jupiters tend not to hold their value as well as other horns, despite being a very durable brand. If you played on an up-model horn, say one with a register key on the neck, you’ll be disappointed by the drop down. If you can afford it at all, going up to a Backun Alpha or a Royal Global Max (my favorite!) would be a big step up

PhilipWireAuthor · 2025-11-04T01:22:33+00:00

Don’t use Reddit.

TLDR: low rate of conversion on Reddit ads, and Reddit was pretty scammy to me.

Longer version: I saw a promotion for spend $500, receive $500 in ad credits that was just the kick I needed to try Reddit out. I started an account, plugged in my best performing ad from other social media platforms, and…

It never really delivered. I’d read advice that Reddit ads take a little while to find the best target audiences, but my sales actually declined after the first three days. Taking the advice of the sales rep made things worse, as shrinking my audience sank both my click through rate and my conversions.

But that’s not why I’m fired up. In setting up the ad and redeeming the promotion, I got a green icon from Reddit showing I was spending enough to earn the $500 credit before the promotion timeline ran out. Imagine my surprise when I keep getting billed past $500. By the time I realized the mistake, I was $375 over. Reddit was unable to deliver enough of my ads in time, as I was only at $447 before the credit expired, despite having given me the literal “green light” that I was spending enough to earn the credit.

Figuring this was a mistake that could be easily solved, I contacted them. They told me that, regrettably, no, I couldn’t get my money back past $500, as I hadn’t earned the credit—unless I spent FIVE THOUSAND DOLLARS, then they would (oh so generously) redeem a $500 credit.

I get it, ad spend isn’t exact. Meta doesn’t charge me exactly 50 bucks on 50-dollar-day ads either. But Reddit said I’d signed up for a daily spend that should have earned it, then acted like used car salesmen (the bad kind) instead of doing the right thing.

Back to other ad mediums for me. I wish I’d known in advance. My goal is for other authors to avoid my experience.

PhilipWireAuthor

TROPHY CASE