Klarinet Archive - Posting 000616.txt from 2004/08

From: "Matthew Lloyd" <matthew@-----.uk>
Subj: RE: [kl] FW: 1896 Selmer Basset Horn
Date: Sat, 21 Aug 2004 09:42:51 -0400

The auction itself is a private one, so I cannot see who is bidding (or,
given that only two have been tendered, who isn't!) but I have decided
not to bid at all. I know that there are those on the list who would not
bid against another list member - but no-one will be competing with me.=20

I'm not sure how the Royal Academy is dealing with it. On my view of the
law here there is nothing to prevent a prosecution for handling stolen
goods if it can be proved (as the seller suggests) to be one of the two
given by Wood to the Royal Academy even after this time. Highly unlikely
to be prosecuted by us, but possible.

Matthew

-----Original Message-----
From: Shaw, Kenneth R. [mailto:krshaw@-----.com]=20
Sent: 20 August 2004 22:09
To: klarinet@-----.org
Subject: [kl] FW: 1896 Selmer Basset Horn

Someone asked about an 1896 Selmer basset horn on eBay at
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=3D1&item=3D3742731263&=
ssP
ageName=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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