Klarinet Archive - Posting 000132.txt from 2000/10

From: LeliaLoban@-----.com
Subj: [kl] Just wondering ...
Date: Tue, 3 Oct 2000 11:08:26 -0400

Regarding the Silver King clarinet with the missing barrel, I wrote,
>I don't know whether a barrel designed for another
>metal clarinet might fit that one. White also made an
>inexpensive student model, the Regency, which is fairly
>available today, and which typically sells for under $50
>at flea markets. Maybe it would be worth checking to
>see if the barrel would fit a Silver King.

Typo...duh. The H. N. White student model was the Regent (not Regency).
Sorry!

To elaborate a bit more.... If you do find a Regent to cannibalize for the
barrel on the Silver King, it probably won't have an H. N. White logo on it.
Gladiator, Cleveland, American Standard and Ohio were White student brand
names in the 1910s through the 1930s, and until sometime in the 1940s (not
sure exactly when the various changes occurred), to avoid putting the White
name on student- quality instruments. The early Regent models may have any
of those brand names on them or they can be stencils under a store's in-house
brand name. I've also seen "Regent" with no other brand name (similar to the
"Regency") and don't know whether that's a White clarinet or not. Regents
are very available, and cheap, compared to the better Silver Kings.

White had founded the company in 1893 and was using the Silver King model
name by at least the early 1920s (I own a 1924 King Saxello, for instance).
Silver King model clarinets were made over a period of nearly half a century.
Specifications changed. Regent barrels that fit some Silver Kings may not
fit others. Also, the Regent barrel probably isn't as good as a Silver King
barrel, but at least it might make the instrument playable.

After H. N. White died, the brand name situation got confusing, because the
company inherited by his widow started using Cleveland as a *model* name,
under the H. N. White logo. White continued making Regent clarinets. King
was top model of the line, then Cleveland, then Regent, then American
Standard. But the quality of Kings began falling off, and sometime in the
1950s, the company spun off King as *a brand name*, with Cleveland a *model*
name under King, so that "King Cleveland" instruments started coming out
(like the cornet I just sold) -- all student quality!

But anyway, the Silver King clarinet, during H. N. White's lifetime, was a
pro instrument, surpassed only by the Silver Sonic variant of the Silver King
that had a sterling silver bell. If there's any doubt, check the serial
number and make sure it's earlier than about 330,000, which would be earlier
than 1953. If it has a SN later than that, I wouldn't go to a lot of trouble
trying to find a barrel. I'd try to unload it "as is."

White and King instruments made between 1953 and 1965 are definitely student
quality, IMHO, although in the early years of that period, the company was
selling what it *called* professional instruments as well. The brand name
was sold to a conglomerate in 1965. That company moved the manufacturing out
of Cleveland. Anything made after 1965 is a White or a King in name only,
and is student quality (not relevant for you, though, since the company had
quit making metal clarinets by then). King today is one of the UMI labels,
though no longer used on clarinets.

My information mostly comes from company catalogues and advertisements. The
serial numbers with dates can be found at:

http://www.musictrader.com

Lelia
~~~~~~~~~~
Accidents don't just happen. They must be carelessly planned.
~~~~~~~~~~

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

   
     Copyright © Woodwind.Org, Inc. All Rights Reserved    Privacy Policy    Contact charette@woodwind.org