Klarinet Archive - Posting 000135.txt from 1998/09

From: Chris Felts <cfelts@-----.com>
Subj: Re: [kl] Champlain Clarinet (and Boston Wonder)
Date: Fri, 4 Sep 1998 23:25:42 -0400

Bill Hausmann wrote:
>
> At 04:20 PM 9/4/98 -0500, Chris Felts wrote:
> >Hi,
> >A few weeks ago through the mail, I finally received the Champlain
> >clarinet I bought through E-bay, and as you can imagine, I have numerous
> >questions. First off, I have played alto sax for the past four years,
> >and am trying to learn clarinet, once I get this thing fixed up. On the
> >bell, it is engraved diagonally "Champlain" with wavy lines above and
> >below it. It is in two pieces, the bottom has all the rods, keys and
> >things, and the top seems to be today's equivalent of a tuning barrel.
> >It is made of a silver type metal (how can I find out which?) with a
> >brass type under metal showing through at several places. The serial
> >number is located right before the welding of the bell, above the serial
> >number engraved is "made in italy", the serial number is in the late
> >376xx range. It seems very slender when compared to a modern clarinet,
> >on the top the diameter is around 1 1/2 cm, and the bell is around 7 1/2
> >cm. Also around the four left hand key group, there are "00" markings
> >on all the keys, and that section of the body.

BTW after taking apart the clarinet to get it ready for a re-pad, I
found that all the keys and each section have the "00" on them, some of
the markings are stamped under where corks go, some where they are
visable.

There seems to be no
> >marking of high pitch or low, and the tube stays at the 1 1/2 cm pretty
> >much until the bell. Please tell me anything you know about this
> >clarinet (i.e., when itwas made, what key its in, what metal it is made
> >of, etc.). Thankyou for your help.
> >--
> Many metal clarinets were made by and for numerous manufacturers, most no
> longer traceable, in the early part of the century as a low-priced
> substitute for wood clarinets. They are mostly silver-plated brass,
> sometimes nickel-plated (you can tell by the color). The reason they look
> so skinny is that metal is much thinner than wood, so much so that the
> outer diameter is virtually the same as the inner bore diameter. The tone
> holes must be built up from the body to compensate for that lost thickness.

yes, the tone holes do "stick out" from the body, like a saxophone

> Once plastic and/or hard rubber clarinets were developed, the metal ones
> fell into disfavor, if for no other reason than that they LOOKED better.
> You can often see metal clarinets in pictures of bands from the 1920's and
> even 1930's. They make great lamp bases and curiosity pieces, but unless
> you find a Selmer or something they are generally not really every day
> player horns. By the way, numbers stamped into the keys usually suggests
> cast metal rather than forged, a sign of an inferior horn.

Could you please explain that last sentence? I'm not quite sure what
you mean by "a sign of an inferior horn", and which part of the sentence
it is refering to, thanks a lot for the info!

> Bill Hausmann bhausman@-----.com
> 451 Old Orchard Drive http://www.concentric.net/~bhausman
> Essexville, MI 48732 http://members.wbs.net/homepages/z/o/o/zoot14.html
> ICQ UIN 4862265
>
> If you have to mic a saxophone, the rest of the band is too loud.
>
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------

--
-Chris Felts

e-mail: chrisf@-----.com
Sax homepage: http://members.tripod.com/~cfelts
Game Cheats: http://www.geocities.com/TimesSquare/Dungeon/1526

"First you master the instrument, then you master
the music, then forget all that... and just play"
-Charlie Parker

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