 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: clarispark
Date: 2005-01-05 18:19
Hi everyone,
I was wondering if anybody could help me. About seven years ago, when I began to play clarinet, I came into possession of a Noblet clarinet, serial number 66402. The people I bought it from said they had bought it used many years earlier, maybe 15-25 years. I was wondering whether anyone has a Noblet clarinet with a close serial number and knows about how old their clarinet is. I've tried contacting the Leblanc Company and they tell me that they have no record of my clarinet's serial number, meaning that it was made before 1964.
Thanks,
Michelle Barrett
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Author: kwolman
Date: 2005-01-05 19:00
I recall this discussion came up about two years ago on the Klarinet list. While you can date Selmers, Buffets, etc., for some reason I cannot remember, it's almost impossible to get any kind of date on a Leblanc instrument. Records were lost...a fire? negligence? If you got out of them that the instrument was pre-1964, you're doing better than I did. Nobody even answered my inquiries.
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Author: Brenda Siewert
Date: 2005-01-05 22:47
I agree. I've tried with no success to get dates on used Leblancs. You'll just have to guess to the best of your ability based upon what you have been told.
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Author: Jack Kissinger
Date: 2005-01-06 04:09
Noblet's logos have changed over the years. A description of yours might help in putting an approximate age on it.
Best regards,
jnk
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Author: GEM
Date: 2005-01-07 01:27
Good luck. I have one marked as made in Paris, so I even sent the French office a letter in French, but it did no good. Perhaps because Je ne parle qu'un peu Francaise? Ou parce-que je suis Americain?
GEM
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Author: kal
Date: 2005-01-07 04:14
Leblanc used to have an inquiry form on their website where you could enter the serial number and logo details along with any other distinguishing characteristics. I believe you could even attach digital pictures. It took about two weeks, but I got a response (The consensus on mine was mid-1940s). Of course, it's not definitive, but I trust their guess more than I'd trust anyone else's. I've tried to find that page again so I could post a link here, but since the site's been reworked it seems to have disappeared. If you describe your horn in detail, some of us may be able help.
-kal
Post Edited (2005-01-07 04:18)
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Author: Bill
Date: 2005-01-07 14:33
When I used to track Noblets on eBay, the oldest ones I saw had a very simple, almost a "drawn" logo, and the trill keys were normal-looking (i.e., did not have the look of Leblanc trill keys). My sense is that Leblanc acquired Noblet around 1950 - or - around that time began to exert their design influence on the clarinets manufactured under that name (trill keys, signage, etc.). I have some pictures of really old Nobelts around here somewhere. Jack Silver once showed me a very, very old Noblet probably from before the 1930s.
Bill.
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Author: clarispark
Date: 2005-01-07 17:59
I am still in the process of getting pictures of my Noblet clarinet, especially the logo, but I can describe it and a few other strange characteristics. The main part of the logo is an oval shape with straight, flattened ends. The name "Noblet" is centered and underneath in tiny lettering it says "PARIS". (All caps if you didn't notice.) There is a small circle on the top of the oval shape with a capital N in it, and nothing else. The four keys with long rods on the right side, including the ones that play E flat and high B flat, are straight and flat, not pulled outward and spiky/sharp looking. I've never seen another clarinet with keys like that in my band, which has about thirty clarinet players. I'll get a picture up soon if I can.
Thanks,
Michelle
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Author: clarispark
Date: 2005-01-08 00:57
Okay...I have been corresponding with a woman selling a clarinet remarkably similar to mine in the Classifieds on this site. She has written back to tell me that her clarinet is a Noblet model 27, and told me some characteristics that I, too, will pass along, just in case anyone can use 'em. She told me that the logos on the 27 and the model 40 are the same except that on the 27 there is actually a number 27. This characteristic doesn't exist on my instrument, so it's up to me to assume that my clarinet is a Noblet model 40. I was also informed that her similar clarinet is a late '60s or early '70s model, so mine could also be that new, which means Leblanc brushed me off about the serial number. I'm still trying to find an email address to contact their American offices, but since they redid their site I can only find one for the French office. Maybe I'll do a web search on it.
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