 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: Philover
Date: 2010-12-04 03:29
I have a wood Bundy clarinet with a low serial number 8457.
On 2 sites this dates the clarinet to somewhere in the period 1905-1910.
However, there is a huge amount of information that George Bundy did not purchase the Selmer company until 1927 and so how could a Bundy clarinet exist as early as 1905-1910.
Can someone point me to somewhere on the internet that reliably indicates when this clarinet was made? I know from other information on the internet that Selmer produced some wooden clarinets post WW2 along with the large number of plastic ones.
I've looked extensively on the internet but just can't seem to find the answer.
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Author: alanporter
Date: 2010-12-04 03:54
As I understand it, George Bundy was an employee of Selmer at this time. Or am I wrong ?
tiaroa@shaw.ca
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Author: susieray
Date: 2010-12-04 04:58
Is your clarinet marked made in France, or made in the USA?
It might help to know that for starters :-)
There were wooden G.M. Bundys imported from France in the late 1920's and there were wooden Selmer USA Bundy's made later, like maybe in the 1950's and 1960's. They are totally different animals.
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Author: clarinetguy ★2017
Date: 2010-12-04 05:07
Susieray could be right about French Bundys from the 1920s. According to this link, though, it appears that instruments with the Bundy name didn't appear until the 1940s.
http://www.woodwind.org/clarinet/Equipment/Selmer.html
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Author: susieray
Date: 2010-12-04 09:26
Attachment: Bundy Paris metal clarinets 1927.jpg (1179k)
I have attached a page from a 1927 Selmer Paris catalog that shows a Bundy Paris metal clarinet...there are no wood Bundys in this particular catalog but it does show the Bundy name being used on a clarinet as early as 1927.
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Author: clarinetguy ★2017
Date: 2010-12-04 12:55
I had no idea! Susieray, thanks for sharing these with us. It's always interesting to see advertising from the past. When I started playing back in the 60s, I started on an old metal clarinet (not a Bundy). Over the years I saw many other metal ones, but I never saw one that came apart in the middle and at the bell. I wonder if this is the only one that did. There have been discussions about Selmer's professional-level metal clarinet of the era, the one that Gaston Hamelin played. Hamelin's clarinet had a left hand A-flat/E-flat key and a low E-flat key (it doesn't appear that this one does), but otherwise, I wonder if there were any other major differences between these two metal instruments.
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Author: chris moffatt
Date: 2010-12-04 13:03
As near as I can figger George Bundy was an employee of H&A Selmer from around 1909...he acquired USA distribution rights to Selmer horns from Alexandre Selmer in 1918 when Alexandre moved to France. It's probable that the Bundy trade name dates back to close to this time. Bundy became general manager in 1927. Died, I believe, in 1951.
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Author: jasperbay
Date: 2010-12-04 16:06
Thanks, Suzie, for the old adverts. I needed them both for horns in my collection.
I've got quite a few USA wood Bundy's and they look like Selmer Signets, with nice thick nickel plating. Nice players too. My french Selmer Bundy's look like french Selmers, all have unplated german silver keywork, and play beautifully! I notice in the wooden french Bundy ad that the keys were 'hammer forged'. This would explain (maybe) why some nickel silver keys tarnish less than others. I think the hammering might give a tighter grain structure than plain cast keys. I also have one of the "transitional" wood Bundys, clearly labeled 'Elkhart', yet with french style unplated keys. Legend has it that these were assembled in the US from parts possibly smuggled out of occupied France.
My metal Geo Bundy is well made, and a good player, but the horn comes apart in the middle, and one of the toneholes goes through the corked joint, this is a real pain for the restorer. This horn lacks the real fancy adjustable neck of the Selmer metal clarinet, Dang!
Clark G. Sherwood
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Author: gsurosey
Date: 2010-12-05 16:54
I have 2 Bundy's by Selmer that are old and I'm trying to nail down dates as well. Neither of them are made of wood.
Eefer is 3,xxx and bass is 9,xxx. The logo on the eefer bell says "Bundy Resonite Made by Selmer Elkhart Indiana". I can see places where the logo is peeling off (so it's not ingraved, which intrigues me). The logo on my bass has completely disappeared; however, I can see enough of the outline to where I can determine they had the same logo (and the bass is in the original beat-up Bundy case).
The thing I notice is that the bell seems to have a grain along it whereas the body doesn't. I wonder if the bell is original? I can't tell 100% if it's made from the same material or not. I always assumed they were originals to each other, but maybe not?
I'm also not sure if this is the same among eefers in general or just this one, but I can't roll into the throat A. The key is far away from the body that I just hit the bottom of the key if I try to roll it. So, I actually have to lift to hit the key.
Rachel
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