Klarinet Archive - Posting 000011.txt from 1998/06

From: ROBERT HOWE <arehow@-----.net>
Subj: [kl] Old Clarinet prices
Date: Sun, 31 May 1998 12:43:50 -0400

People ask of the value of old clarinets.

1."In a message dated 5/30/98 Jerry Lamie wrote:

> Jerome
> Thibouville
> Lamy
> Paris
> A A (These are Eifel Towers)
>
> ...Does anyone have an idea of what it might be worth?
> The really spooky part is that my name is:

Jerome Thibouville Lamy was a French Yamaha of the turn of the century,
they made everything and were not a specialist in anything. This
instrument is like others that I have purchased for $50-200 in various
condition. It is not rare and those are reasonable prices.

2. "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."

Lots of old instruments lack a maker's mark, these were "stencils", made
anonymously for a music store and then stamped with the appropriate
mark. They often do play well, the quality of "student" instruements
was higher in 1900 than in 1970; fortunately we seem to have made
progress in my lifetime. Again, this clarinet is neither rare nor very
expensive.

3. "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"

These sell from dealers for less than $100, unrestored. They are
extremely plentiful. Fred Oster had 15 in his shop the last time I was
there, he doesn't even bother to list them in his catalog. I just
bought a rare double-wall model for $200 and felt I was paying too
much. The double wall makes it look less geeky and more like a wooden
clarinet.

You will see people selling these at flea markets as soprano Saxophones,
asking $250; ignore them or correct their ignorance. Metal clarients
are quite common.

Now, I know of a Selmer A clarinet in Metal for sale by a
Frenchman--this WOULD be rare and valuable, for the name, pitch and
quality. My clarinets in metal are an Eb soprano, a Bb (in silver), a G
(yes, G) and a BBb contrabass.

RObert Howe

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