Klarinet Archive - Posting 000169.txt from 1995/02

From: Mitch Bassman <mbassman@-----.COM>
Subj: C clarinet and mouthpiece
Date: Wed, 8 Feb 1995 12:56:29 -0500

C CLARINET
----------
An orchestral colleague of mine has recently bought an old C clarinet.
It's a Boehm system instrument. It's in very good condition and plays
well with a pleasant tone, but he has some trouble with intonation in the
highest register. He told me that the markings on the instrument read
something like

Couesnon & Co
94 Rue d'Angouleme
Paris
193?

where the "?" is either a "2" or a "3" but is hard to read.

We were wondering if anyone is familiar with this instrument or its
maker. Any idea what might be the value of the instrument?

MOUTHPIECE
----------
Also, no mouthpiece was in the case with the clarinet when he bought it.
The barrel accepts a standard B-flat/A clarinet mouthpiece as a perfect
fit, but we wondered if there might have been a mouthpiece (and reed)
specifically designed to suit the dimensions of the C instrument. There
is clearly a substantial difference between the size of the B-flat/A
mouthpiece and that of the E-flat/D mouthpiece, and the C clarinet falls
halfway between the sizes of the A and E-flat. Using the too-large
mouthpiece might be one cause of his intonation difficulties. He would
like to know if anyone sells C clarinet mouthpieces and reeds?

Thanks,
Mitch Bassman
mbassman@-----.com