Klarinet Archive - Posting 000754.txt from 1998/10

From: "MARY A. VINQUIST" <kenshaw@-----.com>
Subj: [kl] Leblanc Infinite; Selmer Signature
Date: Fri, 16 Oct 1998 19:27:51 -0400

Here's my $.04. I played a *very* good Infinite at the Leblanc stand in
Columbus. As an R-13 player, I liked it more than the Opus or the
Concerto. In what I must say is typical fashion for Leblanc, their reps
knew nothing whatever about the design. At least the early publicity
material on the Infinite said it had the Opus/Concerto internal design wi=
th
the jump key external mechanism.

However, Tom Ridenour (who designed it) said the Infinite was *not* the
Opus/Concerto with jump keys, but rather a slightly improved R-13 type
polycylindrical design designed to attract Buffet players to Leblanc. =

Certainly the one at Columbus played more like an R-13 than an Opus.

I don't know about other people, but I greatly prefer the jump key design=

-- not because it has any particular mechanical benefit, but because it
fits my (rather large) hands better. In particular, the trill key touche=
s
are higher on the side of the instrument (i.e., moved counterclockwise,
looking from the mouthpiece down) and are much easier to reach than on
other instruments.

I also played a couple of Selmer Signature horns at Columbus and thought
they were good, but not to my taste -- akin to the Recital model. I real=
ly
dislike the weight and large diameter of the Recital, and the Selmer soun=
d
is not my ideal, so I'm not a neutral judge. Nevertheless, they seemed t=
o
be very well made, and, as I recall, Tom Ridenour said he liked them.

And nothing at Columbus came close to Rossi's instruments.

Ken Shaw

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