Klarinet Archive - Posting 001225.txt from 2000/06

From: LeliaLoban@-----.com
Subj: [kl] Looking for information on my horn
Date: Tue, 27 Jun 2000 19:37:44 -0400

Charles S. Mims wrote,
>....I've been lurking on this list for a week or so
>and reading through many of the archives. What
>I would like is some information on my horn. It
>was passed on to my by my aunt who bought it new.
>(1960's mabye?) It came in a case marked Bundy....

I see a lot of used clarinets of various brands, in Bundy cases. The Bundy
cases were better-made than some others in the 1960s. They protected the
instrument pretty well and had a more room in them for reeds, etc. than some
other brands of cases, many of which were (still are!) absurdly cramped. I
think sometimes people have replaced the worst cases with Bundy cases over
the years, or asked the dealer to sell a Bundy case with an instrument.

>It is different from most clarinets I've seen because
>when purchased it came with a resonite barrel and bell,
>but the rest of the horn is wood. There are no brand
>markings on the horn anywhere except for a serial #10255.
>Because it is extremely hard to play (even when in good
>condition!) I've wondered for some time was the horn
>really manufactured with the mismatched barrell and bell.

Yes, clarinets were manufactured that way. I used to think "mismatched"
clarinets were all "marriages" -- and some of them are, of course -- but then
I acquired a Buescher catalog from mid-20th century that advertises such
instruments. I've since seen a number of Buescher Aristocrat clarinets from
the 1960s (after Selmer bought Buescher and started using the Aristocrat name
on student models) with wooden sections paired with plastic bell and barrel.
I also have an earlier sales flyer from Bettoney advertising clarinets made
that way, and I believe Martin Freres and some others may also have made
similar instruments. All the ones I've seen were lower-cost student models.
I think that a professional restoration might cost more than these
instruments are worth now, since they're not highly sought-after today.

The one you've got with no name on it is probably a "stencil," made by a
major manufacturer for a music store that put on its own paper brand name
label. Those paper labels tend to fall off and get lost, over the years.
That could also explain the Bundy case. Selmer owned the Bundy name, and
also manufactured mixed wood and plastic models under the Buescher name. It
wouldn't be surprising if the store had an arrangement with the company to
supply Bundy cases for "store brand" clarinets.

I'm half-guessing, but I think that making the bell and barrel of plastic was
a pretty good cost-cutting measure for manufacturers of student clarinets.
Making a bell requires a fatter stick of wood than making the other parts of
the clarinet. The thick pieces of wood come from larger trees that are
becoming more rare than the smaller, scrubbier trees. The larger wood costs
the manufacturer more. As for the barrel, I've noticed that a high
percentage of vintage wooden clarinets I see for sale used have cracked
barrels. I don't know why that part is so much more vulnerable than the rest
of the instrument, but it's a strikingly common type of damage. I think
making the barrel of plastic also served to cut a manufacturer's costs, since
the customer with a plastic barrel wouldn't come back, with the instrument
still on warranty, and ask for a replacement barrel.

Glad to hear about someone else coming back to the clarinet! I'm a
come-backer, too. I still get out my old Conn Director now and then. It saw
me through grade school and high school, so even though it's not a good
clarinet, I'm sentimentally attached to it. For the $150 it would cost to
repad your clarinet, I'll bet you can find a better one used, but even if you
buy something better for a practice clarinet, as I did, maybe there's an
intangible value in keeping a family instrument, that money can't buy.

Best--
Lelia
~~~~~~~~
How do you tell when you run out of invisible ink?
~~~~~~~~

---------------------------------------------------------------------
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