Uebel Vision Bb/A Clarinet - Mopane with Gold Keys

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 sound, the Vision is cleaner 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.

The Vision includes — standard! — Uebel's "linked double-slide vent system." Translation: automatic low E/low F correction mechanism that deactivates/activates when the register key is pressed/released. 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 Uebel says adds stability in the low register and helps the sound project. Keywork is gold-plated posts and silver-plated keys, and the action is smooth out of the box.

How it plays

This is the darkest clarinet I sell, save one. Not dark-and-muddy either — the mopane Vision has one of the three most accurate chromatic scales I've measured, and every single note on it came back tonally even. Not most notes. Every one. Two other clarinets in my whole catalog managed that, and neither of them has this scale.

So you get a dark, compact sound where the color doesn't change on you as you move through the horn, and the notes go where you put them. The grenadilla Vision is the brighter of the two, and if I'm being straight with you, this one measured better on nearly everything.

The one thing to know: it drifts flat when you push volume, most in the low register. That's most clarinets, this one included, and the audio player below will tell you more about it than the chart will.

Resistance: 4/10, Light

One of the more free-blowing professional clarinets you'll find. Hear how it responds to volume in the audio player below — Weber first (wide dynamics, wide color), then the Berlioz (wide dynamics, narrow color), then the Gershwin (narrow on both).

Before you decide

The grenadilla Vision is the obvious one — same horn, brighter wood, more projection if that's what you're after. The Backun Essence in grenadilla is the closest thing I carry in spirit: dark, accurate, and it holds pitch from soft to loud better than nearly everything I've measured, for less money. And the Royal Polaris gets you into the same dark territory for a lot less, with a scale nearly as good. All three have full recordings and dashboards on their pages, so you can A/B them from your couch before you order anything.

If you want dark without giving up the scale — this is the one.