Buffet ICON Bass Clarinet Neck

Thank you! The neck works just like I expected and was beautifully packaged. I also appreciate your immediate response when shipping was delayed🙏

At first I was a little skeptical - what difference could a neck make? Well, I'm sold on it. I find this neck is a bit more free blowing with a more focused sound than the stock neck. IMHO it's worth the investment. All 5 Cs, as well as everything in between are clear and in tune.

I recently tried out the Tosca ICON neck in Michael’s studio. We blind-tested 4 different necks (stock neck, 2 ICONs, and the Blashaus).
As an orchestral and chamber music player I look for dark deep warm velvet sound. The ICON neck performed best, giving a remarkably pure sound in the clarion register. I bought the ICON neck and am able to even extend the pure warm sound in that register further, it gives me a bit of a classic alto sax sound experience in that register (using B50, Optimum, and V21).
The Blashaus gave exact opposite sound of what I was looking for. Heaviest and most expensive neck is not always the best!

The ICON neck has a beautiful and direct sound. Much like the ICON Bb/A barrels, the ICON bass clarinet neck transforms the instrument to a much more direct and free-blowing horn. I'm extremely happy with the change!

I'm not a fan of all of the fancy add-ons to horns. After watching Michael's video review, I decided to take a flyer on this ICON neck, and wow it really is quite different. I immediately heard an improvement to my tone. More responsive to articulation, and a much more focused tone. My trio partners noticed as well.

When I first played this neck for someone else, they said it gave me a more focused and controlled sound, and even improved my intonation. It's also hard to say "no" to such a beautiful neck! It may be lacquered copper, but it almost looks like rose gold. The only "con" I have with it is that there is a "color" of sound I get with my stock neck that I really like, that is suppressed on the ICON. So I'm just going to have both in my case for when I need one vs the other. I also plan to experiment with taking it apart at the tuning joint, and use the top half of one with the bottom half of the other.

I approached this neck with skepticism, as it seems to have the same geometry as the standard Prestige neck. What I experienced was interesting. Intonation is identical. The upper chalumeau and altissimo speak easily, with more clarity than on my standard neck. The tone seems to have a bit more depth, too. This probably has more to do with deviations between necks of the same geometry instead of the finish (although the finish is striking). What convinced me to keep it were the positive, unsolicited comments I received from other members of the orchestra during our last concert series. In a nutshell, this thing is great.

I was curious to see what (if any) effect a different neck might have on my bass clarinet. I've heard lots about Blashaus but could not justify paying 2k+ for a neck, it's just not in my budget. I noticed that Michael was carrying the ICON neck AND he was allowing them to go out on trials which is not something every retailer will do. The price was more manageable. Even if I didn't like the neck, I would only be out the cost of the trial and shipping, so maybe around $50 total. The moment I put the ICON neck on I was blown away by the response and feel. My air was much more efficient and the instrument fought me a whole lot less. With regard to sound, my stock neck was pretty darn close. The response was what sealed the deal. In terms of sound, the altissimo does feel more nimble and the low register is slightly rounder and full. Intonation was marginally improved on some of the more problematic notes as well, nice bonus. After I went back to my stock neck, I couldn't believe the difference. Thank you Michael for another great purchase experience!

Wow - the change from my stock neck to this is incredible. The feel, response, and sound is amazing. Thanks Mike!

I just received the Buffet Icon Bass Clarinet Neck for my Buffet Tosca Bass Clarinet from Michael. I am delighted with how it makes playing large intervals so much easier. And the tone is very smoothed out as well. I highly recommend giving it a try for yourself.

The ICON neck is the first equipment change I have made in a very long time on my Prestige Bass. It just plays. It has a rounder, smother sound, and has evened out the register changes. as an extra, not expected bonus, it seems to have fixed and noticeably tamed some of the pitch inconsistencies of my instrument, lowering the clarion b, and somehow raising the Bb. Super double bonus, the extreme altissimo, above High G is much more secure and in tune. Bravo Buffet and Bravo Mike for selling these!

I had a Prestige bass with the Icon neck and now I have a Tosca bass with the Icon neck. The Icon necks are amazing and it is insane to me that anyone would spend big money on a Buffet bass and then get cheap about the neck. Get the Icon neck for your Buffet! It is not "brighter– or "darker.– It is just better.



Earspasm had the icon neck in stock! They did not take my money and then send me a follow up email about a special order and shipping date at some point in the future. The shipping was fast and it was all exactly as advertised. Buy your bass gear from the expert! Five stars!