Klarinet Archive - Posting 000381.txt from 1999/11

From: LeliaLoban@-----.com
Subj: [kl] Cases, Inhabited....
Date: Wed, 10 Nov 1999 21:04:58 -0500

Mark Charette wrote,
>I just bought a B12 for a student - it was about $350.00 or so. I love the
case design - young students can't accidentally open it upside down.>

Good point. That's a problem with the Selmer and Selmer Bundy cases. I see
a lot of old Bundies at flea markets and yard sales. You can't tell which
side is up, without paying close attention to the latches. On many of these
used cases, a previous owner has either added a sticker or removed the
circular Bundy logo from one side of the case, obviously as a "This Side Up!"
reminder. Of course, on some cases, kids have used the marker to mean, "This
Side *Down*!" -- so I've memorized which way those latches go, to make sure I
don't dump a clarinet on the ground. That's probably how so many of these
old instruments get mangled. The kid, or some flea market customer, opens
the case upside down, the clarinet moves, then the customer forcibly mashes
the case back together on the clarinet when it isn't positioned properly.

I always look in the case even if it says "Bundy" on it, BTW, because those
cases sometimes get recycled. Just last weekend, I opened up a plastic Bundy
case and found a little eefer rattling around in there, like a hermit crab
that's grabbed the biggest shell it could find. This particular hermit crab
is an 1889 Buffet Eb, Albert system, Low Pitch. The old rubber
Penzel-Mueller mouthpiece is probably trashed (broken into 3 pieces, glued
and then vigorously -- probably catastrophically -- buffed down afterwards).
Someone, probably the dealer, did a terrible amateur re-corking job with
cork so thick the instrument can't be put together. He also corked over a
deep tenon chip that needs filling or else it's going to start a crack, so
it's probably just as well he couldn't re-assemble the instrument and put
pressure on that tenon. Otherwise the instrument seems to be in fine shape.
The pads are a delicate, crispy-crumbly brown whose full-bodied aroma of olla
podrida contains a robust undertone of cucaracha muerta, with a hint of
gusano defunto.

I recognized this clarinet as the much-lamented "one that got away" just a
few weeks ago, at a different flea market. The eefer had no case then and
was filthy. Someone had fattened up the wrecked corks with duct tape enough
to assemble the instrument on the table. A guy I know slightly (friendly
rival for several types of merch) bought this eefer right in front of me.
We'd talked a little bit near the entrance of the flea market, then he walked
up one row while I walked up a different one. Well, he picked the right row.
I finished my row and started down his, just in time to see him hand over
$30 for the eefer. Yeeooowwwwie! He's not a clarinetist; he plays guitar
and harmonica but thought he might want to learn clarinet someday. When he
showed me his find, I think I would have noticed if the mouthpiece had been
broken. I'm pretty sure it was intact then.

As we walked away, he said, "Is this smaller than normal for a clarinet?"

Now, I was nice. I didn't try to tell him it was a toy and he should flip it
to me for the 30 bucks so I could get rid of it for him. Nope, I told him
the truth, that he'd found something dandy, though I didn't know the fair
market value. (Still don't, but $30 looked like a safe risk...!) As he
walked away bearing his prize, I remember noticing that the dealer hadn't
even given him a bag. I thought that didn't look like a safe way to carry
off a clarinet with no real corks.

I'd never gone out hunting for an eefer because I think Shadow and I might
agree about it. Even so, of course, I wailed and moaned to my husband about
missing out on this great deal. Kevin knew which guy I was talking about and
told me that just before we met up, he saw that guy crawling around on the
pavement on his hands and knees, frantically looking for something.

Well, last weekend I went to another flea market and who should I see set up
as a dealer but this same guy!-- and there was the eefer, now living in the
old Bundy case. He also had a baritone horn mutilated into a (big, ugly)
lamp and a couple of other clarinets, both low-end student instruments. Said
he'd decided not to learn clarinet after all. He hasn't got the time and he
found out that getting the clarinets re-padded would cost too much. Neither
of us said much about the condition of the eefer, but I'm guessing that the
bub-fudge job on the corks is his work and that the object he madly searched
for on hands and knees must have been one of the chips that broke off the
mouthpiece when that duct tape "cork" let the mpc fall off the clarinet and
onto the asphalt parking lot. Knowing what he'd paid, and knowing he'd done
some damage that probably lowered the value of the instrument in his mind,
gave me an advantage. He asked $70. I offered $50. He took it. Well, if
I'd seen the eefer first last month, I would have had that good mouthpiece
plus the $20 difference, and I wouldn't have to strip the corks that he put
on with some seriously impressive glue (!) but I guess I shouldn't whine too
much since the guy threw in the case. Next step, re-do the inside of that
case so the eefer will fit in there properly -- and put a "This Side Up!"
sticker on the outside!

I haven't shown Shadow what's in that case, but she gave it a good
sniffing-over. I'm afraid she's figured it out.

Lelia

---------------------------------------------------------------------
Unsubscribe from Klarinet, e-mail: klarinet-unsubscribe@-----.org
Subscribe to the Digest: klarinet-digest-subscribe@-----.org
Additional commands: klarinet-help@-----.org
Other problems: klarinet-owner@-----.org