Klarinet Archive - Posting 000605.txt from 2004/08

From: "Shaw, Kenneth R." <krshaw@-----.com>
Subj: [kl] FW: 1896 Selmer Basset Horn
Date: Fri, 20 Aug 2004 17:10:23 -0400


Someone asked about an 1896 Selmer basset horn on eBay at http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll=3FViewItem&rd=3D1&item=3D3742731263&ssPageName=3DSTRK:MEWA:IT.

The date seems OK, but the seller is obviously not a player, and any instrument that old is a pig in a poke. The wood looks in rough shape in the close-ups of the lower joint, and we'd need someone with expertise on the bore size Selmer used at that time to know whether it plays with the claimed "correct" basset horn tone. It's not enough to say that someone's clarinetist father played it and liked it. The open hole design means very wide finger stretches, so it won't be easy to play.

I also doubt that it belonged to Sir Henry Wood. The case is stenciled "RAM" (Royal Academy of Music), so it is a school instrument that had probably been in storage for a long time.

The seller is an eBay "Power Seller" and has a good feedback record, but appears to sell mostly medium-priced old toys.

At =A31000 (about $1820), the price is reasonable, but personally, I'll pass.

Best regards.

Ken Shaw

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