 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: MilesMcKeever
Date: 2004-07-09 18:20
Attachment: clarinet.jpg (21k)
Is it worth the trouble to restore any metal clarinet?
I am an old trumpet/flugel player wanting to take up clarinet for first time, knowing nothing about woodwinds. Naturally I wanted to try brass clarinet (don't care if it sounds different from wood/plastics)! I bought six clarinets on eBay in conditions lousy to good: 3 Cavaliers, 2 Bettoney, 1 Belmar. I hoped from the bunch to build one or two playable instruments that are in tune throughout two octaves.
My questions:
a. Is it a crazy waste of time to restore metal clarinets?
b. Is about $300 an okay price for a full restoration on one of these? Or more?
c. Is there a brand/model of metal clarinet that is known GOOD, worth restoring?
d. Is there any clarinet repair technicial who LIKES to work on these things, or are they anathema?
THANK YOU for your kind help and thoughts on these items!
Miles McKeever
Laguna Niguel, Southern California
email: milesmckeever@yahoo.com
cc: milesmckeever@cox.net
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Author: David Spiegelthal ★2017
Date: 2004-07-09 19:15
Some metal clarinets are certainly worth restoring --- our BB expert is Jim Lande, who will hopefully chime in here. My own limited experience with metal clarinets has been pretty favorable --- I keep a metal Moennig Brothers "Artist Model" in my tenor sax case and play it regularly in a "trad" jazz band --- a few of the other musicians have been amazed that it 'sounds like a wood clarinet'. I've renovated a couple of other metal clarinets (a Noblet and a William Nuernberger, respectively French and German-made) and both turned out to be pretty respectable players.
An overhaul shouldn't cost $300 --- probably more like $200 for a good overhaul would be more reasonable. Other than the inevitable metal polishing task, overhauling a metal clarinet is no different than working on a wood or plastic instrument. Of the instruments you've bought, I'd start with the Bettoneys as they are most likely to play well, then the Cavaliers (Conn student models, I believe they are), then the Belmar which I've never heard of.
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Author: jim lande
Date: 2004-07-11 00:42
There is a lot of info on the bbs about metal clarinets. Search & learn. Opinions vary, especially among techs. Some don't like working on them. One reason would be that your choices for polishing is to dip -- and possible weaken springs or hand polish -- hours of work. Oh, and when you hand polish, you end up sticking your fingers with springs and snapping springs off when you snag them with your polishing cloth. I hate that. And given that the metal clarinets were mostly made in the 1930s & 1940s and mostly were used as school instruments, many start with bad springs, stuck screws & damaged keywork.
I would agree with Dave that $300 sounds like too much unless you are getting one of the top techs. and they are going to replace every bit of cork, all springs, & all pads. Note that there is cork on almost every key.
I'm not sure I would spend that kind of money on a student model. Some student metal clarinets, once restored, are as good as modern student instruments. However, $300 gets you most of the way to a new major brand student model.
Bettoney was the largest seller of student clarinets & flutes for some years in the 1920s. If you have a Madelon, 3 star, Cadet or PX Laube, then I wouldn't necessarily choose one of them over your other student metal clarinets. I'd let the tech choose the one that looked in the best shape. Bettoney made two intermediate models: the Columbia and the Boston Wonder. I have restored one of the former and was not impressed. They also sold models to the military that did not have model names but did have serial numbers starting with an "A". I have heard that these were very good instruments. The top Bettoney was the "Silva Bet" model and these are great instruments -- definately better than modern student models. Needless to say, these get bid up on eBay.
Other pro (for their day) models include the Silver King, the Selmer (sold as the "Master Model" but not identified as such on the instrument.) The Buescher, the Harry Pedler model , and several Conn models. All of these makers, however, offered student models. If you see one you are interested in, write to me offline and I will give you more info.
Also, a young lady has been offering a metal clarinet rebuild on eBay. I believe that she is training to be a tech, but has some experiance. The price will be modest. Write to me offline if you want her email..
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Author: BobD
Date: 2004-07-11 21:25
The above posters know way more about the subject than I do. But I guess, here again, it's a personal matter. I bought and restored one metal clarinet solely because the engraving on the bell was unique.....it contained the name of the burg in Pa where I lived at one time. There have been prior comments here from those who are confident that their metal horns play and sound as well as non-metal ones. My opinion.....it's strictly a personal thing.
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