Klarinet Archive - Posting 000451.txt from 1997/10

From: ROBERT HOWE <arehow@-----.net>
Subj: Re: Grand Partita!
Date: Sun, 12 Oct 1997 15:07:12 -0400

Hello Lani and several other people who are interested in some of my
oboes, clarinets and basset horn. =

To save time (I am a slow and very talky typist) I am sending the same
note to 7 people who are interested in different instruments. Some of
the details will obviously require massaging. Don't despair if you
don't see the horn you want, it's farther down on the memo.

I apologize for the delay in getting you this information; I have been
up to my ears in work and have had very little Internet time, most of
which is spent clicking the DELETE button on messages from the Klarinet
and DoubleReed list servs. =

If you want to try any of these horns, I will be glad to meet you when I
am in Boston, to do so when you are around here, or to mail them to you
if you will send a check for me to hold. Nothing personal on the check,
but I have to do this; I was once stiffed by the bass clarinet player in
a big 5 orchestra for $1500, a player I had known for years and whom I
completely trusted. I had to threaten to sue to be paid. =

Prices can be flexible, especially if you have an instrument, reeds or
lessons to offer in trade. Prices are based on my own expenses
including purchase, repair, case purchases, and the often extensive work
I have done to restore antique instruments to fine condition; and on
prices asked for similar instruments at dealers' and auction houses.

The Buffet Boehm oboe is not now available, pending my receipt of
another such instrument from another collector; I will want to keep one
of these two. =

Please understand that I am not a dealer, I am selling several
instruments from a moderately-sized collection ONLY in order to finance
the purchase of a lovely original early oboe; such instruments are my
passion. Once I have raised what I need, I will stop selling (until next
time..!) so as not to deplete my collection. If my day-work was more
productive, I would not be selling any of these puppies.

I thank you for the help with the Mahler 5th, which I have ordered from
the German company.

Thanks again for your patience, and best wishes,

Robert Howe

Bassett horn =

Maker: LeBlanc
Site of Manufacture: Paris
Year of manufacture: early '80s
System: Boehm, low C
Body: grenadilla
Keys: silver keys
Pitch: A440 with Hite mouthpiece
Condition: excellent
Case: original
Repair history: received in excellent condition.
belonged to a prominent NYC player who has used it in recordings of wind
music by Mozart.
Price: New LeBlanc bassetts are $7000+. $4500, this actually leaves me
very little profit.

Oboe
Maker: E. Delarue. This maker does NOT appear in the new Langwill
Index.
Site of Manufacture: Paris
Serial: none
Year of manufacture: mid to late 19th century. Details of the keywork
suggest an earlier date.
System: Triebert Systeme 3, low B
Body: grenadilla
Keys: silver
Pitch: probably above 440
Condition: Excellent condition
Case: stock replacement
Repair history: overhaul by John Symer, 1991. Much fiddling by me
since.
higher. Needs a fairly small reed to play well. Geoff Burgess thought
that it was made by a standard maker--Triebert, Couesnon, Thibouville
etc--and stamped with a store or dealer's name as "Delarue".
Pricing: A standard French mid to late 19th century oboe, in good
condition. Modern replicas of simpler 19th century instruments are
$1500ish. $1250.

Oboe =

Maker: Buffet-Crampon =

Site of Manufacture: Paris
Serial: none
Year of manufacture: circa 1900
System: Triebert Systeme 4, low B
Body: grenadilla
Keys: base metal
Pitch: high pitch
Condition: Excellent condition
Case: none
Repair history: minor touch-ups here & there
manufacture roughly between turn of the century and WWI.
Pricing: An early 20th century version of the standard French mid to
late 19th century oboe, in good condition. $750.

Baroque oboe (copy)
Maker: Harry Vas Dias =

Site of Manufacture: Atlanta, GA, USA =

Serial: 253
Year of manufacture: 1986
System: Baroque, double 3rd and 4th holes, double Eb and great C keys. =

Copied after an oboe by Stanesby Jr, Edinburo Museum, Scotland
Body: boxwood, no cracks.
Keys: 3, polished brass =

Pitch: 415
Condition: excellent, like new
Case: soft roll
Repair history: none
1986, shortly before his death, never played much. Essentially a new
instrument; sent to me 1997 for evaluation and sale. I humidified it
and made a few reeds, I think it plays VERY nicely; Geoff Burgess, Harry
Vas Dias, and Sand Dalton like this horn too.
Pricing: The woman who owns it, a member of Prof. Benade's family,
insists on a minimum of "what it would go for new now". This would be
$1500; I have suggested that $1200 would be fairer and I suspect a lower
price could be reached. Make me an offer and I'll try to talk her into
it.

Baroque oboe (copy)
Maker: Grant Moore
Site of Manufacture: USA
Serial: none. Under great key, "GWM 80"
Year of manufacture: 1980 as confirmed with Mr. Moore
System: Baroque, double 3rd and 4th holes, double Eb and great C keys. =

Copied after Denner, Germanischen Nationalmuseum Nurnberg
Body: boxwood, no cracks, stained almost black.
Keys: polished brass, silver coated
Pitch: 415
Condition: excellent
Case: soft roll
Repair history: cleaned and tenons wound by Keith Loraine, 1996. Voiced
and tuned by Harry Vas Dias, 1996.
it as a painstakingly correct copy of the better of the two Nurnberg
instruments, museum serial MI 89(which puzzles me, as the Nurnberg
museum catalog has 6 Denner oboes; only one of these, MI 155, has double
4th holes). Harry vas Dias made a copy of MIR 370 at Nurnberg but now
copies MI 89 as being better suited to A415. I own one of Harry's MIR
370 copies; his oboe is, indeed, sharp to A415, and the Moore is better
at 415. In March 1997, tone holes were adjusted by Steve Hammer. I
silvered the keys, 1996. See Kirnbauer, "Verzeichnis der Europaischen
Musikinstrumente im Germanischen Nationalmuseum Nurnberg", band 2, page
132-133 for information on and a photo of the original. In September
1997, I played this Moore copy and 7 other baroque oboes side by side,
chose this one as the best even over my own Vas Dias Denner.
Pricing: A lovely Denner oboe, perfectly useful. New, by different
makers, these are $1400-1600. For this instrument I would like to see
$1000.

Eb soprano clarinet =

Maker: Klemm Bros
Site of Manufacture: marked Philadelphia, prob. German import according
to Langwill index and to Al Rice
Serial: none
Year of manufacture: circa 1830
System: 6 silver keys
Body: Boxwood, five joints rather than 4.
Keys: silver
Pitch: unknown
Condition: pristine, has period mouthpiece which may be original.
Case: none
Repair history: minor touch-ups. =

Pricing: This is a museum quality instrument for which I paid a fairly
stiff price. I must ask for $1200.

Eb soprano clarinet =

Maker: Buthod & Thibouville =

Site of Manufacture: Paris
Serial: none
Year of manufacture: ca 1840
System: Muller syst
Body: boxwood with ivory rings
Keys: 13 brass keys, polished.
Pitch: unknown
Condition: Excellent but the bell ivory is damaged. =

Case: none
Repair history: I gave it minor touchups to the wood and completely
overhauled the pads and keys. Keys were cleaned gently by hand and have
not been buffed by machine nor marred in any way.
workmanship on this clarinet is extraordinarily well-done, and it is
very beautiful.
Pricing: This is a museum quality instrument except for the cracked
bell ivory. It plays very nicely and could be used in performance. =

$1000.

Eb soprano clarinet =

Maker: unknown. =

Site of Manufacture: French
Serial: none
Year of manufacture: mid nineteenth century
System: Muller system 13 keys
Body: fruitwood or boxwood, nicely stained with a slight reddish hue
Keys: silver on base metal, most of the silver is worn off.
Pitch: unknown
Condition: excellent
Case: none
Repair history: received in fair condition, I cleaned and restored
it. Keys were cleaned gently by hand and have not been buffed by
machine nor marred in any way.
very well made clarinet that has been used well. It has the roundest,
mellowest sound of any of my 19th century piccolo clarinets.
Pricing: $850.

Eb soprano clarinet =

Maker: Buffet-Crampon =

Site of Manufacture: Paris
Serial: none
Year of manufacture: mid 19 cent
System: Boehm
Body: boxwood, single-piece body. The boxwood is of very high quality,
the trademarks are crisp and black. This clarinet is simply gorgeous. =

Keys: brass, highly polished and very pretty
Pitch: unsure, but is the same overall length as an A440 Selmer =05Eb
clarinet from the 1960s (within a millimeter, but the bores may differ,
as do the tonehole sizes)
Condition: Excellent, needs only minor adjustments to play. =

Case: none, but fits a modern case
Repair history: I've adjusted the mechanism and polished the keys and
cleaned the wood, all by hand without abrasives or machine buffing.
obtained with the instrument. The wood is extraordinarily well
preserved and beautiful.
Pricing: A rare early Boehm in fine, fine condition. $2000

Eb soprano clarinet =

Maker: unmarked
Site of Manufacture: European, sold as German or French
Serial: none
Year of manufacture: ?1880 according to dealer
System: Muller system
Body: Integral barrel, grenadilla
Keys: alloy
Pitch: unknown
Condition: good, needs a cleaning and overhaul
Case: none
Repair history: none =

portion of a scroll stamped on the bell and lower joint which has worn
to illegibility. The clarinet was clearly marked at manufacture. With
patience, magnification and good light several letters can be made out. =

Pricing: This is an interesting instrument in that the one-piece upper
joint and barrel is, so far as I can see, very rare. It is not now
playable but would be with minimal work. $700.

Eb soprano clarinet =

Maker: Pedlar
Site of Manufacture: USA
Year of manufacture: circa 1920
System: Albert system
Body: Ebonite
Keys: base metal
Pitch: Low pitch
Condition: good, all parts are intact, needs an overhaul
Case: original, blocking lost, needs a little work. Throw in some
styrofoam and it will hold the clarinet just fine.
Repair history: none

Other Pedlars I have owned played perfectly well.
Price: $250

C clarinet
Maker: Peloubet =

Site of Manufacture: New York
Serial: none
Year of manufacture: 1829-1835
System: 8 key
Body: Boxwood five piece body, ivory rings
Keys: 8 brass keys
Pitch: uncertain
Condition: excellent
Case: plastic box
Repair history: restored by RH 1996, by hand
Gallagher, 1997, of synthetic ivory. Bell may be from another
instrument as the wood is of a somewhat granier appearance. Harry vas
Dias, however, points out that the need to have an enormous chunk of
wood for a bell often led 18 and 19 century makers to use dissimilar
woods for the bells of oboes and clarinets.
Price: Perfectly playable, nicely restored. $900

C clarinet
Maker: A&W Geib
Site of Manufacture: New York
Serial: none
Year of manufacture: ca 1830
System: five key
Body: four piece rather than five; bell is not now removable from lower
joint.
Keys: five, of brass
Pitch: unknown
Condition: unbelievable after 170 years. Could be a year old for the
way it looks. Maker's marks are crisp and very legible.
Case: Has the original box that it came in, with pencilled notations
from the sale of this and several other instruments.
Repair history: I have not had to do a thing to it.
have ever seen.
Pricing: This is a fabulous piece for a collector. $2500.

C clarinet =

Maker: Buffet {not Buffet-Crampon}. Albert Rice thinks it is by Auguste
Buffet, who made the first Boehm clarinets. I think it is by Jean
Buffet before he joined up with Crampon.
Site of Manufacture: Paris
Serial: none
Year of manufacture: ca 1835
System: Muller 13 key system
Body: Boxwood with ivory rings, very well preserved.
Keys: 13 brass keys
Pitch: unknown
Condition: excellent, perfectly playable with a few adjustments.
Case: none
Repair history: none
Price : $850

C clarinet
Maker: G. Penzel =

Site of Manufacture: New York
Year of manufacture: 1880-1892 (Langwill)
System: Oehler system
Body: Grenadilla. Upper ring on barrel is lost. Mouthpiece is
original.
Keys: chrome plated or bright nickel
Pitch: probably high pitch; shorter than the Buffet-Crampon C clarinet
or any of the boxwood Cs
Condition: excel
Case: none
Repair history: needs an overhaul. Upper tuning barrel ring absent
Price: $550

C soprano clarinet
Maker: Buffet-Crampon/Carl Fischer
Site of Manufacture: Paris
Year of manufacture: circa 1915-1920
System: Boehm. Wrap around register. =

Body: Grenadilla
Keys: probably nickel silver, plating essentially worn off.
Pitch:440
Condition: good. keywork very worn but functional
Case: Bb clarinet case with corks cut to make it fit.
Repair history: Maintained by Henry for years. Pads are of a
composition material, applied by him in the 1960s. Barrel jammed on top
joint "since Kennedy was president", removed by water expansion 1996.
WWI.
Price : $650

Bb soprano clarinet
Maker: Conn =

Site of Manufacture: Worcester (NOT Elkhart)
Serial:6094
Year of manufacture: 1895 according to data from the staff at the Shrine
to Music Museum.
System: mod. Albert, has no G#, the left C# opens G# when right hand
fingers are up.
Body: hard rubber body
Keys: bright nickel silver
Pitch:High pitch
Condition: intact. Needs overhaul. Considerable discoloration.
Case: original, good condition
Repair history: none
Price: $400

Bb soprano clarinet =

Maker: unmarked
Site of Manufacture: ?American
Serial: none
Year of manufacture: ?late 19th cent
System: simple system
Body: grenadilla
Keys: base metal
Pitch: plays well at A440
Condition: excellent
Case: none
Repair history: Overhauled by Henry Baron, 1993. =

surprisingly well in tune. Try me for Dixieland.
Price: $500

A soprano clarinet =

Maker: Selmer
Site of Manufacture: Paris
Serial: 2111
Year of manufacture: early 1900s
System: Full Boehm to low Eb
Body: Grenadilla
Keys: plateau keys, plated with ?bright nickle
Pitch: A=3D440
Condition: Excellent
Case: I keep it in a converted briefcase
Repair history: received in excellent condition
commented on how it sounds just like a modern Selmer.
Price: A very rare instrument, plateau keys on an A, and a full Boehm at
that. $1750.

Bb bass clarinet =

Maker: Cabart
Site of Manufacture: Paris
Serial: none noted
Year of manufacture: ?date, probably between the world wars
How obtained: Purchased from a local dealer with a Buffet bassoon. He
wasn't sure what it was, which amazes me. He thought it might be in A,
which it is clearly not.
System: Boehm, double reg key, low E
Body: propellor wood, very beautiful tropical hardwood which is light
like boxwood with dense black stripes.
Keys: Appear to be very thin silver on base metal.
Pitch: A=3D440
Condition: Excellent =

Case: original box case
Repair history: overhauled 1995.
system bass clarinet shown below.
Price $800

Bb bass clarinet =

Maker: Unknown. Quite possible Cabart, as keywork is very much like
that on propellor wood bass clarinet and the bell and barrel are
identical; or Buffet, as the spot where the little plaque that Buffet
puts on their "Prestige" bass clarinets would have been on the upper
joint shows that the plaque has pulled off. The four tiny screw holes
for the plaque sit as witnesses.
Site of Manufacture: French
Serial: none. Marked "France"
Year of manufacture: ? date, is known to be pre-WW2 by the family of the
previous owner
System: Albert, double register key, low Eb, added low D extension
Body: grenadilla
Keys: Silvered
Pitch: 440
Condition: very good
Case: stock replacement
Repair history: overhaul 1996
fine bass clarinet. Once belonged to a NYC player who was a regular
with Paul Whiteman and the NBC Orchestra, may have been played in the NY
Philharmonic as well. Low D extension was fabricated for performances
of Petroushka under Stokowski. =

Price $1500