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C-B models, and other questions for the metal clarinet cognoscenti

Author: Molloy
Date: 2007-07-05 15:50

There are Cundy-Bettoney metal clarinets that are marked with the "H Bettoney" logo and no indication of a model. All the ones I've seen have been US military horns, and it seems like most of the metal eefers one sees (at least on the auction site) are these. I have a Bb and an Eb, both with serial numbers A####, and I have seen two others in person and several more online. The Bb have a double-walled barrel that can be adjusted by pulling out and pushing in -- not a twist-telescoping tuner like on the high-end metal clarinets. The Eb do not have a separate barrel, but the barrel area has proportions just like on the Bb (it's wider there) so that visually it looks like a perfect miniature copy. My experience is that the keywork is solid and ergonomic, and they play in tune.

Are these what people refer to as the "Columbia" model, or were the Columbia marked as such? [I found just now an old thread from 1999 about these no-model Bettoneys, where no clear decision emerged.] Judging by the barrel, they are not Boston Wonder.

C-B made (or at least sold) the Silva Bet, the ones I'm talking about (which may be Columbia), the Boston Wonder, the Three Star and the Cadet, and maybe others. Were these all simultaneous, and distinguished by price/quality? Or is there a temporal distinction as well, like that Three Star predates Cadet or something?

Jim, and anybody else out there with lots of valuable historical and practical knowledge of metal clarinets, I'd like to encourage you to make some sort of online archive or online museum or something. If such things already exist, please point me to them! I know about www.silver-clarinet.com and usuarios.lycos.es/albertsystem/ (not specifically metal-clarinet oriented, but does show and discuss some metal alberts). These sites are helpful but only the tip of a proverbial iceberg.

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