Friedrich Arthur Uebel founded his workshop in Markneukirchen, Germany on September 2, 1936, taking over the customer base of Oskar Oehler, who died that same year. Oehler was the "old master" of German clarinet making — the Oehler fingering system is named after him.

One year after founding, Uebel won the "diplôme d'honneur" at the 1937 World Exhibition in Paris. The company was considered the most important German clarinet workshop through the mid-20th century, despite surviving the Third Reich, World War II, and East German socialism.

The modern F. Arthur Uebel GmbH was founded in 2010 in Wiesbaden, with production returning to Markneukirchen. Jochen Seggelke (yes, the same one) has been advising the company on acoustic and technical questions since 2014.

The Advantage is Uebel's entry-level professional instrument, using what they call a "semi-German bore" — polycylindrical like French clarinets, but less so. German-system clarinets traditionally have more cylindrical bores, producing darker tone with fewer overtones. Uebel is splitting the difference.

The low register runs flat, and the throat tones sit flat. Heads up: D3 (-18¢), D#3 (-35¢), E3 (-25¢). That D#3 is rough. The 12ths stretch — clarion wants to go sharp relative to the chalumeau. Tonally bright, with very even color across registers. Widest intonation spread of anything I tested — 58.3¢ total. You'll grow out of this instrument, but it'll last years as you solidify your foundation.

Resistance: 5/10, Medium

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.

Tariffs: Democracy’s Service Fee

Good news: this clarinet still plays like a dream. Bad news: the U.S. decided to make it 15% pricier—just because it can. I’m splitting the difference, but the other half is your admission ticket to the Land of the Free (Plus Import Duties).