Klarinet Archive - Posting 001529.txt from 1998/05

From: Fred Jacobowitz <fredj@-----.edu>
Subj: Re: [kl] Two unusual clarinets
Date: Sat, 30 May 1998 21:35:05 -0400

Lee,
I suspect that the Conn is essentially worthless unless someone
wants it for a collection. However, the Albert C could bring you at least
$700 among the folk music set. These musicians are playing old-style
ethnic music and value these original-type instruments

Fred Jacobowitz
Clarinet/Sax Instructor, Peabody Preparatory

On Sat, 30 May 1998, Lee Hickling wrote:

> A couple of unusual clarinets showed up this week in the music store where
> I teach. Neither the owner nor I had never seen anything quite like either
> one, and he doesn't know whether they're saleable, or if so how to price them.
>
> One, I think, is a real oddity. It's an Albert system C Soprano, wood, and
> absolutely without a maker's name or a serial number. Its mechanism is
> excellent, and its body in good condition except that the barrel has a
> small crack starting. It's quite playable, but re-padding would be a good
> idea. Its leather case is like nothing I've ever seen, a sort of big
> holster or field glasses case, where the lower section and bell, and the
> upper section, barrel and mouthpiece stow away. It would be fun to have a
> leather crafter or a saddle maker use it to make an exact duplicate. Tron
> the case and the overall look of the instrument, it's not extremely old,
> and I'd guess its provenance was French.
>
> The other one is a CG Conn Ltd of Elkhart metal Bb soprano, a two-piece
> instrument with a sort of tuning barrel, a feature that most old metal
> clarinets I've seen didn't have. My first clarinet was metal (we called
> them "tin" when I was in high school) and I had to pull the mouthpiece out
> to tune. This specimen needs a mouthpiece, a case, cleaning. repadding and
> a couple of springs, but it's completely undamaged, and my impression is
> that it's potentially a superior instrument, for what it is. I'd buy it
> myself in a minute for an all-weather clarinet, but I haven't quite paid
> off a vintage Conn alto sax I fancied. How old this clarinet might be, I
> don't know, but my guess is in the 1920s or early 1930s. The serial number
> is 3230005L
>
> Can anyone tell me whether either of these oddballs is rare enough to be
> interesting, and in any case, how much either might be worth, as is,
> restored, or both?
>
>
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