Klarinet Archive - Posting 000428.txt from 1999/08

From: LeliaLoban@-----.com
Subj: [kl] Sumner mpcs and Signet Special
Date: Sun, 15 Aug 1999 19:13:30 -0400

Yesterday at a yard sale, I bought a Selmer USA Signet Special wooden
clarinet for $35, with a W. C. Sumner Acousticut (Accusticut?--the stamping
isn't completely clear) mouthpiece. The only mention of the mpc I could find
in the Archives was someone's question about it in March, 1999. Evidently he
didn't get an answer on the list, so here goes again. The age of the mpc is
probably mid-1970s. The seller is the original owner of the clarinet and
mouthpiece. I haven't been able to find Signet Special serial numbers on the
Internet, but she told me her parents bought it for her new in about 1975.
Here's the information on the mouthpiece:

Acousticut [or this might be Accusticut]
WC Sumner
Rubber
3

WC is in very large letters with "Sumner" across them in smaller letters. As
the stamping indicates, it's hard rubber. The 2-screw ligature isn't a
Sumner. It's stamped "France" and appears to be the stock Selmer student lig.

I found a lot of pros and cons about this intermediate clarinet in the
klarinet Archives, so I don't want to re-hash all that again, but FWIW, the
seller put a price tag of $35 on the Signet and I paid without bartering.
It's my policy not to try to take advantage of someone by bartering a price
down when I think it's already too low. $35-50 is average for an "as is"
plastic Bundy around here. She might not have been able to do better than
that on her Signet Special, however. She volunteered the information that
she had taken the clarinet to two local instrument dealers who wouldn't even
make an offer on it. That squares with my experience with a good local
repairman who deals in used instruments. I told him I found a lot of stuff
and asked if he'd be interested in having me act as a picker for his store.
He warned me never to bring him student quality clarinets, because, he said,
"I can get them for next to nothing from the schools." So old Signet
Specials are not something to buy for investment purposes...!

I bought the clarinet because it needs pads and corks and because I'm still
learning to do repair work and I need another victim. I'll get the
experience out of it and can probably sell it locally to a student for enough
to cover my costs, if I don't want to keep it. Besides, I'm curious about
anything that attracts such decided "love it" or "hate it" reactions. I know
nothing about the mouthpiece except that the seller put it away wet and
dirty. The lipstick-smeared reed was stuck to the mouthpiece better than the
corks were stuck to the tenons. Somebody definitely made sure she knew the
corks needed greasing. And greasing. And greasing. Not sure she understood
we're supposed to grease only the corks and not the whole clarinet.

Thanks for any enlightenment on the Sumner mouthpiece.

Lelia

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