The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: c_parendo
Date: 2005-10-13 15:29
I have a wonderful old Noblet B flat clarinet , S/N 5655, that I have been playing on for years. I recently went on a quest to figure out how old it is. I called Leblanc customer service in Wisconsin and they asked if it was a model 40, 45, or 47. I said that there is no indication of a model number on the clarinet. She looked at all three lists and said the S/Ns on the lists all have more digits than what I have. Can anyone help me out?
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Author: susieray
Date: 2005-10-13 17:02
Based on the low serial number, it is probably a 1950's or possibly early 1960's model...what does the Noblet logo look like? If it's an oval (older, pre-1960's) or a kind of oblong TV-screen shape, it's a 40. If it's a diamond shape it's a 45.
Sue
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Author: c_parendo
Date: 2005-10-13 20:30
It's an oval. Do you know what model number is associated with the oval?
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Author: DougR
Date: 2005-10-14 02:27
Well, for what it's worth, my high school horn was a Noblet, s/n 8167D, bought new in 1958 for $189.50. If there was a model number attached to it, I never knew what it was. The logo is oval-shaped, kind of a quick & dirty knockoff of a Buffet logo. Good luck re the model number; all I ever knew was that Leblanc made a plastic model (the Normandy), a wood model with the same keywork (the Noblet), and then the "big" Leblancs, which were out of my price range & way beyond my talents.
Good luck!
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Author: susieray
Date: 2005-10-14 06:25
"all I ever knew was that Leblanc made a plastic model (the Normandy), a wood model with the same keywork (the Noblet), and then the "big" Leblancs"
Well, there was definitely more than one model of Noblet, even back then...the one with the oval, which is essentially the Noblet 40, and the diamond, which is the 45....I know for sure they were making the one with the diamond in the 1950's because a friend of mine still has the one his dad bought him new in 1958.
BTW, not all the Normandys were plastic. Wooden Normandys have been around since at least the 1940's.
Sue
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Author: c_parendo
Date: 2005-10-14 15:07
It's kind of sounding like it would be sometime from the 1950's. Do you know what the cases looked like from that era? I'm fairly certain I have an original case. It's rust colored leather and tweed (if that's what you call it) on the outside and pale green fabric on the inside.
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