 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: lsbuckeye
Date: 2012-04-20 03:34
Am looking to find out information about a clarinet that I purchased
at a sale recently. It is a wooden instrument with engraving on the bell
at top a triangular dolphin like ensignia
then an oval with JEAN MAR ?? (can't make out the end of it
and PARIS inside the oval
then a larger script M under the oval
then B in type face
then LOW PITCH in type face
then MADE IN FRANCE
under that a stamped signature that can't be read
I wonder if it's a C clarinet? has some long keys on the left side bottom.
I used to play an Yvette Schaeffer clarinet in high school. It's not a Buffet or
a Selmer. Am interested in getting it refurbished. It is in a neat old wooden case with green felt and has a very old OHIO STATE banner pasted on the wooden case. I am a church musician but haven't touched a clarinet since college 34 years ago. Can anyone tell me about my find?
lsmith0555@yahoo.com
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Author: SteveG_CT
Date: 2012-04-20 07:07
Since it is labeled "B - low pitch" it is a Bb clarinet. If you post some pictures we might be able to tell you more about it, but my guess is that you have either a French-made stencil clarinet or one made by one of the dozens of small manufacturers that existed prior to the second world war.
If it's in good condition it may be worth having overhauled but don't expect to ever be able to sell it for anywhere close to the amount of money you will have invested in it. Also keep in mind that if this is a very old clarinet then there is a high probability that it won't play very well even after an overhaul.
Pretty much anything not made by one of the well-known makers tends to have very little resale value so you'll have to decide whether you think it's worth the risk to invest in the instrument.
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Author: Ursa
Date: 2012-04-20 08:07
This could be a Jean Martin, a model made by the Martin Freres firm through at least the mid-1950s. A vintage advertisement I have on file shows that this model was an intermediate instrument in the Martin Freres lineup.
Martin Freres clarinets from the mid-20th century draw very little interest from today's collectors and players. Don't invest in having it restored unless you know for certain you'll use it yourself--you won't be able to recover the cost of repairs if you decide to sell it.
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Author: lsbuckeye
Date: 2012-04-20 11:38
Thanks for the responses! I sure appreciate it!
lsmith0555@yahoo.com
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Author: SteveG_CT
Date: 2012-04-20 13:06
Ursa wrote:
> This could be a Jean Martin, a model made by the Martin Freres
> firm through at least the mid-1950s.
Certainly a possibility but the fact that it is labelled "low pitch" suggests to me that it was made in the 1930's or earlier. I don't think I've ever seen this label on a clarinet made after 1940.
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Author: Lelia Loban ★2017
Date: 2012-04-20 13:59
I think Steve is right about the date. The LP designation began appearing on instruments in the late 19th century, after a great big international fight over what the pitch standard should be. The pitch in some coutnries, especially England, had been gradually rising until soprano and tenor singers started having an agonizing time reaching their notes. Well-known opera singers mounted a vigorous and ultimately successful campaign to get English and American standards lowered to French pitch, which was about half a tone lower at the time. During a difficult transition period, instrument companies accomodated musicians who played for bands and orchestras with different pitch standards by making both HP and LP instruments.
I own instruments from the 1930s with HP or LP on them. But, after WWII, all clarinets for commonplace retail sale in the USA, France and England were what previously had been called "low pitch" (concert A = 440 Hz). The only pitch designations stamped onto instruments after that, as far as I know, were on custom HP instruments made to order. So HP and LP are good ways to date instruments to the early 20th century.
I have a 1957 Martin Freres clarinet sales brochure from 1957. The brochure does list the Jean Martin clarinet as a student model by then, and in the middle of the line, but also boasts that the factory in France had been in business for more than 200 years, so a clarinet from the 1930s or earlier certainly could be a Martin Freres "Jean Martin". And indeed, the rather indistinct photos do show a company logo that's sort of wavy triangular-shaped, though I can't make out the details.
It was (still is) very common for a company to bring out "new and improved" models at higher prices, then keep the names of the formerly top-of-the-line older models but move them down in the company's quality rankings. It's possible that a Jean Martin started out at the top of the line at some point before that 1957 catalogue. However, I think all Martin Freres instruments from the 20th century are considered student-quality. It might be of interest to a collector who can restore instruments, but Ursa is right that professional restoration would cost more than a Martin Freres "Jean Martin" is worth, *if* that's what this clarinet really is.
Lelia
http://www.scoreexchange.com/profiles/Lelia_Loban
To hear the audio, click on the "Scorch Plug-In" box above the score.
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Author: BobD
Date: 2012-04-20 15:30
"What something is worth" is a complicated subject.
Bob Draznik
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Author: Lelia Loban ★2017
Date: 2012-04-20 16:04
>> "What something is worth" is a complicated subject. >>
True, and maybe I'm only renewing my cheapskate credentials here ... but I think most of us would have to pay more for a pro restoration job on a clarinet in typical "garage horn" condition than we'd be willing to pay for a 20th century Martin Freres in playable condition.
Lelia
http://www.scoreexchange.com/profiles/Lelia_Loban
To hear the audio, click on the "Scorch Plug-In" box above the score.
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Author: bradfordlloyd
Date: 2012-04-20 16:44
I found an old Martin Freres "Grand Prix" Eb clarinet with a wrap-around register key that I had restored (mostly to play just for fun).
It turned out to be a pretty nice-playing instrument (and no worse in terms of tone and intonation than any other eefer). The restoration wasn't cheap, but I got a pretty good horn out of it for far less than buying something newer. I play it in my local community band.
Now, I don't plan to sell it.....but I'd count on taking a significant loss if I ever did.
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Author: chris moffatt
Date: 2012-04-20 20:03
Definitely a Martin Freres. The Jean Martin name was used for some instruments from around 1927 after some kind of reorganization. So B & LP is quite consistent with an export model from that time. Other than that - what Lelia and Steve said!
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