Klarinet Archive - Posting 000194.txt from 1995/10

From: Fred Jacobowitz <fredj@-----.EDU>
Subj: Re: Malerne bass clarinet
Date: Mon, 9 Oct 1995 13:56:15 -0400

Mitch,
Malerne was a respected French instrument maker which disappeared
after WWII. I would guess that if the instrument is in good condition,
it is approximately on the level of a Bundy or Vito plastic instrument.
Naturally, it will not have the sonority of a wooden one (and they don't
either) and it probably will have quite a few tuning problems. You get
what you pay for. However, that being said, $350 is a great price for a
plastic Bass Clarinet, if it is in good playing condition. I played
professionally on a Bundy before being lucky enough to afford a better one
and I know more than a few other pros who still do. Just a little note,
Stanley Drucker's first good mouthpiece was a Malerne stock mouthpiece
(lord knows what blank and whose facing it was) but he still swore by it
at least as of ten years ago when I read this (I think it was in The
Clarinet). He has said that no matter what mouthpiece he tries, he always goes b
ack to it.

Fred Jacobowitz

On Mon, 9 Oct 1995, Mitch Bassman wrote:

> I've searched the KLARINET archives for "Malerne" and got exact zero
> hits, so now I'll appeal to the experts on the list.
>
> A couple of times a year I'm called on to double on bass clarinet. I
> don't own a bass, so I've always had to borrow one. Usually I can get a
> reasonably decent instrument. Someone I don't know at all (referred by a
> mutual clarinet colleague) is moving and has offered to sell me his backup
> bass clarinet. The markings on the body read as follows:
>
> R M
> R Malerne
> Paris
> Standard
>
> The body is plastic, not wood; the upper and lower sections are combined
> as one piece. There is no serial number! There is no peg; I'm not
> comfortable playing bass clarinet with a neck strap, but I suppose a peg
> could be added. It does have a low E-flat.
>
> The positive aspects are that it's playable throughout the range and it
> comes with a like-new Selmer case.
>
> This is clearly a student-model instrument. The seller is asking $350.
> I've borrowed it on approval for a week. So far I don't have any warm
> fuzzies about this instrument. Does anyone know anything about Malerne
> bass clarinets?
>
> --Mitch Bassman
> mbassman@-----.com
>