Klarinet Archive - Posting 000003.txt from 2003/12

From: "Forest Aten" <forestaten@-----.net>
Subj: Re: [kl] C-Clarinet Alert
Date: Mon, 1 Dec 2003 08:51:21 -0500

> Like I said before, they were good enough for Benny Goodman! If it was a
> BUFFET in the same condition, would you consider it to be "out of
> touch?" R-13 Bb clarinets routinely pull that kind of price (starting
bid,
> not "buy it now") on eBay. A C clarinet is worth more due to rarity. I
> know they LIST for more new from the manufacturer.
>
>
> Bill Hausmann

Bill,

Benny Goodman may have used different criteria than I do when selecting an
instrument. Using the words "good enough" in your premise doesn't validate
your argument. Goodman may have felt at the time, that the Selmer was his
best bet. It is known that later in his life he made some kind of switch to
Buffet. In either case (Selmer or Buffet)....the clarinets that he played on
then were probably not (from my experience) of the same quality (intonation)
of hand selected clarinets currently available to people like Goodman. I
recently overhauled two old Selmer Eb's from the 1950's, that sat in the
band directors office at SMU. The school was convinced that it would be a
good idea to put them into "mint" condition. They wanted to put them into
service with the bands. I told them that it would be costly and that in the
end they would likely own two "mint" condition Selmer clarinets that were
not playable in their band program. (because of the inherent intonation
problems with Selmer clarinets from that time period). They said fix
them....I did. They looked great. Smiles all around when I brought them in
for review. They put them into service right away.....and took them out of
service right away. Even with significant tuning work, the clarinets did not
demonstrate "playability" at current standards. Even the school plastic Vito
(with work done on it in the 70's by C. Bay) performed better than these old
Selmer clarinets.

It is very, very unlikely that I would pursue the purchase any clarinet from
the 1950's....and yes, "that kind of price" for most any clarinet from the
50's is way out of touch. What people pay on eBay is irrelevant. I could
sell dirty old socks on eBay for more money than I paid for them new.
(Well....I'd even wash them and call them "in mint condition")(I might even
sell them the ones without holes ;-)

A C clarinet's value doesn't have much to do with "rarity". A person really
has to have a place to use the clarinet. An orchestra would be one of those
places...but often conductors or other players will refuse a player the
right to use a C clarinet. I have observed this on more than one occasion. A
second (and rare indeed) venue is in chamber music. A third would be in a
jazz/popular setting....and a fourth....the practice room. Not very many
people have a place to use such a clarinet. C clarinets are not rare by the
way. They can be purchased any day of the week. When you say "rare" you
probably intended to say that not everyone has one.....I'll agree with that.
A lot of players don't have them...because they don't need them. If people
have interest in this C as a toy or a collectible great.....as a tool, I'd
say that a player ending up with something useable is a long shot.

Forest Aten

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