Klarinet Archive - Posting 000553.txt from 1996/12

From: David Mack Endres <endres@-----.COM>
Subj: Definitive info on Conn Pan American clarinet
Date: Thu, 19 Dec 1996 19:02:00 -0500

Dear all,
Mark Charette wrote:
>Frank Garcia wrote:
>> I have a student who would like to find out more info about her clarinet.
>> She has an old Conn clarinet. It is stamped Conn Pan-American and is made
>> out of boxwood (I believe). The serial no. is 149018. Can anyone tell me
>> how old this instrument is? Thanks in advance for your help.
>
>The list that's on sneezy maintains it was made around 1926.>

My curiosity piqued again by the recent post by Mark Charette, which
contained information contradicting what I had been told about the
line of Pan American clarinets, I decided to do some digging. I
called UMI (Conn) in Elkhart, and the person in customer service told
me they had NO SERIAL NUMBER lists for Pan Americans. The Conn serial
numbers on sneezy are not relevant to Pan American clarinets, so it is
not vintage 1926. I was referred to the Shrine to Music Museum (anyone
heard of this museum? Their phone number is 605-677-5306).

I contacted the museum, and was told the following: The instruments in
question are actually "Violin Finish" clarinets manufactured for the
Conn Pan American student line. Production started soon after WWII as
Conn got it's instrument lines running. They were manufactured from
1947 until 1949 or 1950. Records were destroyed so no serial number
information is available. They are indeed a wood laminate. They would
have probably been successful but a bad batch of wood was used and
they got a reputation for cracking. As a consequence of this bad
reputation the line eventually died. I find this striking because
I had been informed by a instrument salesman familiar with the line
that they had been guaranteed never to crack!

In summary, these "rosewood" look Pan American clarinets were a brief
post war experiment in producing wood laminate clarinets with the
durability of plastic (resonite) and an attractive finish. The
experiment failed failed, possibly without good reason. I have heard
various claims about their desirability as collector items, but the
Museum could shed no light on this point.

Personally, I like mine, but not as well as my pre-R13 Buffet. The
keywork and intonation are decidedly inferior. The tone is almost as
good as the Buffet, though - without entering into mysticism, and
without a spectrum analyzer I can say no more about the sound
quality. I use it as a spare and when camping. And, I suppose one
could claim I'm "collecting" it.

Cheers

David Mack Endres--Engineering Specialist--APC-Workstation Systems-/
EMail: dmendres@-----.com - When In Doubt, - Cell: (512)750-3648 /
FAX: (512) 331-3075 - Blame The Reed - Ph:(512)331-3269 /
Post: Schlumberger ASC, POBox 200015 Austin, TX 78720-0015 /
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