Klarinet Archive - Posting 000637.txt from 2003/09

From: "Don Hatfield" <dhatfield@-----.org>
Subj: Re: [kl] When an old clarinet smells
Date: Tue, 23 Sep 2003 11:43:45 -0400

Last time I had the 'urge', I ended up with a beautiful old Selmer BT
clarinet in super shape for $200.00, from Ebay. When it showed up on my
doorstep, I was pleasantly surprised to discover a wonderful old Brilhart
clarinet mouthpiece, a really old Selmer table B* mouthpiece, and an
unopened box of Vandoren reeds that was at least forty years old. I
contacetd the seller to offer extra money for the goodies, but he said he
had no use for any of it and hoped I would enjoy it all. It was all a bit
musty and smelly, but it all 'came clean' and the clarinet, after a cleaning
and repad, now has a nice old Selmer grenadilla odor.

I drive my wife crazy when looking at clarinets because I stick my nose in
the barrels and bells and enjoy the fragrance of the woods. And I noticed
when I was a teenager (this is not a double-blind scientifically-explained
thing) I could tell a Selmer or a Buffet or a Leblanc clarinet by the odor
of the wood...there's a differnce in them, at least to my nose, even today.

>Wood. I wouldn't have thought a non-porous material could develop such an
odor, though I suppose fungus & bacteria can grow anywhere if
conditions are right. I was interested in it because it was an A, which I
don't have. I
couldn't see any cracks, and the keywork moved smoothly. I recognized
the keywork, so it wasn't an Albert or whatever. I was willing to gamble
$75 plus the cost of a few pads & adjustments even though I hadn't heard it.
If there was something that identified the manufacturer, I didn't see it.
It could've had mismatched joints, etc. What can I say? I had the 'urge'.<

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