 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: Clarineteer
Date: 2014-01-26 22:37
Is there such a thing as an exact serial number list for H. Bettoney Silva bet clarinets?
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Author: jim lande
Date: 2014-01-28 10:29
Not that I have seen. About a decade ago I talked with an old tech in the Boston area who mentioned that a fire destroyed most of the factory records. I'm pretty sure the first ones were offered somewhere between 1925 and 1927 and didn't have a patent number. The Patent was issued in January 1927 and somewhere in the low hundreds, the patent number started showing up on the horn.
At the other end, I'd guess that they stopped making Silva bets by the mid or late 1930s. The original barrel was fat, heavy, and had two turning rings. At some point early on they also offered a straight, non-adjustible barrel. The highest serial number I have seen was S5011. S4413 spotted on eBay came with two barrels -- both adjustible but one fat and one the newer style thin one. The thin adjustible barrel only appears after that number. They keywork was not as nice and I'm guessing that by then, metal clarinets had lost their market cachet. M y guess is that most were made before 1933.
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Author: Clarineteer
Date: 2014-01-29 12:12
Thanks. I have a Bb with the thin barrel and an A with the thicker barrel. How rare are the key of A clarinets? Both have separate upper and lower joints. Just finished the overhaul on the Bb and am working on the A.
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Author: slickam
Date: 2014-02-01 11:56
I looked at the patent (http://www.google.com/patents/US1705634) and it says the application was filed on January 31, 1927, and the patent was granted on March 29, 1929. The patent number wouldn't be on the instrument until after it was granted.
My Silva Bet (serial S47X) is marked "Patent pending" (so it would have been made between the 2 dates above) and has the straight barrel. Hopefully this will help narrow the range a bit.
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