The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: wjk
Date: 2003-01-21 00:35
I saw a Selmer series 9 for sale at a local shop. Is this a "pro" level clarinet? Any quirks I should watch out for when evaluating this instrument? Thanks.
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Author: Benni
Date: 2003-01-21 01:02
It is a "pro" instrument . . . Here's some facts:
0.584" tapered bore
Straight-cut tone holes
Produced in the 60's
It tends to be more in tune than other large bore clarinets, making it suitable for legit playing, but makes a good "jazz clarinet" as well. Doublers seem to like them, too. Make sure you have a mouthpiece that is well-matched, otherwise it's very noticeable (more so than on other clarinets I've tried). With the right mpc setup, I've found it to be very resonant, balanced, and focused.
If it is a 9*, it is a much smaller bore horn with a polycylndrical bore, meant to jump on the R13 bandwagon.
It won't make you sound like Benny Goodman (unless you already have that down on any clarinet, but who does?), but BG did play one of these towards the end of his career! ;-)
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Author: Martin
Date: 2003-01-21 02:28
Benni-
What do you consider a well matched mouthpiece for a Selmer 9?
Martin
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Author: Hank
Date: 2003-01-21 03:11
Hi Martin,
I have both a Series 9 and a 9*. I use the same setup for both clarinets, one of three mouthpieces. I tend to prefer my Stowell, Wells, Schneider B2 and a Portnoy BP02. The spare is a Chedeville C Crown. I actually have doubles and even triples of all those mouthpiecesc in case of a mouthpiece dropping "accident."
For ligatures, I prefer a modified Gigliotti, an inverted Bonade, or a Joue Joulie.
These are excellent clarinets; I have enjoyed them very much.
Hank
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Author: Brenda Siewert
Date: 2003-01-21 14:54
I owned a Series 9 briefly and sold it to a fellow player in our community band. He uses a Hawkins mouthpiece on it.
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Author: Benni
Date: 2003-01-21 19:18
Martin -
Basically any medium-open to open mothpiece with a larger chamber and a meduim-long facing seems to be well suited to the Series 9. I've had best results with a B45• and a Pete Fountain.
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