The Clarinet Web Site | Home of the Andrew Roberts Clarinet Service

The ARCS Workshop is now fully booked until the end of August/September, so please book early if your instrument needs overhauling or is due a service! The diary is filling up very quickly!

Message to all our regular customers

It is easy to forget to have your instruments regularly serviced. Once you have had our full overhaul, we strongly suggest returning it to us between 12-18 months thereafter so we can keep your instruments in peak form and add any updates! As our materials and systems are quite unique it is vital that we carry out any servicing to keep your clarinet playing at the highest level possible

Our specialist wood treatment needs to be re-applied in this time scale to continue to protect your clarinet. The service takes 3 hours and costs £138, (if extra work is required the cost may be higher) and includes swedging and replacing pad centres if required, as well as cleaning, lubricating the keywork and re-sealing the wood and updating to the latest improvements

One unfortunate customer wasn’t able to get their instrument to us in time for it’s service before the top joint cracked! This isn’t a disaster and we managed to restore it to its previous perfect air tight seal see before and after photos below, this included the addition of carbon fibre banding to re enforce the top tenon and our unique solution to repairing cracks

Latest Initiative – Free loan of Buffet Greenline R13’s B flat whilst your instruments are booked into the workshop!

We are pleased to announce that we can now offer, on a first come first served basis, free instrument loan whilst your instrument is booked into the ARCS workshop. We have a fleet of 3 Buffet Greenline R13’s available for loan, which have all been overhauled in the ARCS workshop. We advise customers using this free service to arrange their own insurance cover for the duration of the loan period. We may be able to offer cover for this in the near future- watch this space! Please be aware that this also applies to any instruments that ARCS ship to you on approval

*ARCS Buffet Greenline loan instruments*

New ARCS instruments in stock

Brand new unused Buffet R13 Eflat clarinet £2995

Bought in August 2022 bargain price including new unused VANDOREN B44 mouthpiece £2995 current price is £3625 without the Vandoren mouthpiece , please note this instrument has not had the ARCS upgrade which is an option at an additional £460

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ARCS Buffet RC £2800 on approval

This is a very recent unused model which has been stripped and re built in our workshop bringing it up to full ARCS spec. It comes in an unmarked case and has two barrels 65&66mm. It is very even blowing and has the typically excellent tuning. As you can see the wood is returned to its beautiful natural colour and the Thumbrest has been re-positioned to the correct alignment with the index finger.

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New ARCS Clarinets stock new and Pre Owned

New into the workshop:

Buffet R13, Selmer 10s A clarinet, Buffet E13 , Yamaha 650 all awaiting upgrading to ARCS spec

Yamaha YCL 650 new unused but updated to ARCS spec with Kooiman Thumbrest

Recent arrivals in pre owned stock

Check out the pre owned section for more instruments

Selmer Bass Clarinet to Low Eb £5000 – on approval

This instrument was bought new by the renowned Jazz and Classical player Iain Dixon in very good condition despite not having been played for a number of years due to his upgrading to a Selmer Low C. It has nickel keys and has been re-padded with “Superpads” it has recently been checked over in our workshop and is supplied in a brand new BAM Trekking case. It can be heard being played on several of Iain’s CD’s. Further information is available on request.

ARCS Buffet R13 Prestige Bflat (2012) £2800 ono

Now offered for sale due to the professional player changing to an RC Prestige. This instrument has been regularly serviced in the ARCS workshop for a number of years and has just been serviced. It has a historic crack repaired in our workshop with replacement tone holes fitted, this is barely visible and doesn’t affect the playing experience. It has had daily use in a major symphony orchestra for a few years and has an even scale and warm resonance. Supplied in a new Buffet single case it offers a great instrument at considerably less than a new one-list price £4115!

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Boosey & Hawkes 1010 in B flat £950 ono

Re built in our workshop ready for its next lucky owner.This instrument has had a full ARCS upgrade and will play substantially better than any other 1010 on the market. The bell had some long standing cracks which have been mad good and a re enforcing carbon fibre ring has been added for extra strength. It can be supplied with the original thumbrest or a Kooiman Etude 3, which its current owner favoured. It comes in the original Boosey and Hawkes single case but upgrade cases are an optional extra for additional cost please ask for details

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Latest customers reviews

Dewi Davis -ex RAF Bandsman

“I picked up my Yamaha Custom 82 clarinet from the ARCS workshop last week. My clarinet is 40 years old and was in need of serious attention. I’ve known Andy for some years now and knew he was the best man for the job. My clarinet needed a tremendous amount of work, as the keys were not in the best shape not to mention the rest of it! I now have my clarinet home and Andy has done an amazing job on it. After over 50 years of playing, Andy is now undoubtedly the best clarinet technician I have ever known. Thanks Andy.”

Dewi Davis

Ebay can be a wonderful resource but Caveat Emptor-buyer beware. Matthew Dickman’s experience below is all too common

“After purchasing a Buffet BC- 20 Clarinet from eBay I was having problems and sent my Clarinet to Andrew. After receiving the Clarinet Andrew informed me that there were far more problems than I initially perceived. There was everything from worn pads falling out, excessive play in the key work, badly fitted cork tenons to a very poorly repaired crack in the top joint & barrel. This Clarinet was described in the eBay listing as ‘fully serviced and correctly adjusted’ this was clearly not the case.

Andrew was incredibly helpful throughout the whole repair process. He supported me through the refund process and provided a full run down of the problems with the Clarinet resulting in me getting a partial refund helping to cover repair costs which I was ecstatic about.

After getting the Clarinet back from Andrew it plays beautifully and feels better than new! I could not recommend ARCS enough it was a pleasure to do business with Andrew, a first class service.”

Matthew Dickman