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Normandy Eefer age?

Author: JJAlbrecht
Date: 2008-12-13 12:12

My daughter has been using a Normandy (France) Eefer, SN 4458 for several years. The person who is letting her use it is going ot sell it to us so we can give it to her as a gift. Can anyone give me an approximate vintage on this one?

FWIW, this is an older wooden horn (grenadilla), and the SN is extremely light. Took my wife forever even to find the numbers she did find, and her eyesight is better than mine. They were extremely faint.

Thanks!

Jeff

“Everyone discovers their own way of destroying themselves, and some people choose the clarinet.” Kalman Opperman, 1919-2010

"A drummer is a musician's best friend."

Post Edited (2008-12-13 12:12)

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Re: Normandy Eefer age?

Author: Margaret
Date: 2008-12-13 17:19

Hello,

Trying to find out Normandy serial numbers is quite difficult- as I have discovered. There seems to be a lack of information for the very early clarinets and for the later ones.

However, in searching out mine I came across one site (I forget where, but it was reputable) that gave me a clue about mine. Apparently, if you look underneath the C#/ G# key on the top joint, the newer ('80s & '90s but still with the 'shield' type logo- not the new one) Normandys have a coiled spring, much like you find in pens, whereas the older ones have the regular kind of spring that the rest of the keys have.

My older one (confirmed 1964) has the regular spring- sorry, I don't know the name of the regular, 'straight' springs, but I'm sure you know what I mean. My other one (SN 7668- I'm sure the archives have my posts about it- relics of my vain attempts to get a date on it throughout the years) has the tell-tale coiled spring. Had I not been directed to look at it, I never would have noticed the difference.

I have been told that if you get a 4 digit Normandy and it has the coiled spring, it is from after the end of this serial number list:

http://www.woodwind.org/clarinet/Equipment/HowOld/Leblanc.html

and that if you get a 4 digit Normandy and it has the regular spring there, it is from before the beginning of this serial number list.

I have truly exhausted all search possibilities for my instrument. I even phoned the current company. My opinion is that, to get an actual year, someone would need to get access to the archives (if they were kept) or you would need to find an original owner of a Normandy with a serial number close to your's who remembers its serial number and the year they bought it.

There are so many 'unknowns' about Normandys that it is odd; I've never even found anyone who can say for sure when they started or the exact nature of their relationship with LeBlanc.

Margaret

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