 The Clarinet BBoard
|
Author: Charles
Date: 1999-11-23 16:31
I bought an old clarinet yesterday($100). It looks like a rose wood, exactly. I couldn't find anything on upper, lower joint. But on the bell, I can barely see "Pan America..??. Conn Ltd..??". The condition of two joints is almost perfect. Just needs new pads and corks. There is a crack on the bell and barrel, but can be fixed. All screws, keys and movements are fine. I'm polishing keys and putting new pads.
Can anybody tell me what kind of wood is this?
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Mark Charette
Date: 1999-11-23 16:49
It may be a laminate - it was reddish and nicely "grained", but it was really a laminate showing through.
<br>
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Charles
Date: 1999-11-23 17:31
Thanks Mark.
But, I'm sure that this is real wood.
I said that there is a crack on the bell. I can see inside through this crack. Not only the surface but also inside, it is real wood.
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Don Poulsen
Date: 1999-11-23 18:16
I have a similar clarinet (used as a decoration). At one time it was suggested to me that it was a cheap student model made of laminated wood, but there is no appearance of lamination. To me, it looks like rosewood too. I would also be interested in the answer to Charles' query.
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Dee
Date: 1999-11-23 18:20
Pan American was Conn's absolute bottom of the line student grade instrument. There is no way they would have used rosewood.
However if it is a beautiful reddish color with a beautiful "grain pattern" then it is the laminate that Mark spoke of. It was laminated WOOD by the way. Thus even in cracks, you will see the wood grain of the woods used. This was an attempt on Conn's part to come up with a crack resistant, student wood horn. The experiment failed miserably due to a poor selection of adhesive for the lamination. The majority of them cracked worse than a regular wood clarinet. Those surviving today in playing condition, of course, were the few that had good bonding in the lamination process.
If it is one of these, you have a delightful piece of clarinet history. Play it for fun but not for serious use. There are two reasons that I say this. One is to keep it in good condition since they are not especially sturdy. The second is that the Pan American instruments had particularly bad intonation accuracy. They did have a nice, big full sound but were difficult to play in tune consistently.
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
The Clarinet Pages
|
 |
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
