The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: mameshiba
Date: 2014-07-16 06:51
Hi all,
My name is Bambang and I am an Indonesian, I grew up in Singapore tho. I have not been playing my clarinets for 13 years or so. Well, I have an 8 year old son-Sean-he has been playing piano for abt 4 years now and this year, he was required to compose a song and the music school insisted that I did a duet with him, so it was a piano n clarinet duet, which was a dream came true for me, to be able to play a duet with my son. So, after years of not playing my clarinets, I had to start almost all over again, finding a clarinet teacher to help me etc. One of the result of the duet was that my son was interested in playing clarinet now! He is into his 4th clarinet lesson this week.
Now that my son is learning clarinet, he has lots of questions which I can't answer. Being a super curious 8 year old that he is.
He is asking abt the clarinet 'lineage' and 'history'
I have 2 Selmer 10 S clarinets, a Boosey n Hawkes Emperor clarinet, and a Yamaha clarinet. All the clarinets are pretty old, even the Yamaha when I first bought it during my early clarinet years (1984).
Is there anyway that I can track down the history of my clarinets?
- The Selmer 10S had a 'Depose' writen on the body and the serial number is: B4941.
- The Boosey n Hawkes Emperor has a serial number 530171.
The other Selmer 10S is being repaired, it has the clarinet pads changed, will look for the serial numbers when I have it back again.
I only used the Yamaha for a couple of years and then stick to the Selmer 10S.
There was a thread abt the Emperor in this forum which was posted in 2006 or something abt whether is it a good clarinet. Is it good?
Now I have another dream: to be able to do Clarinets duet with my son! Thanx to him!
Thank You
Bambang
My son is learning to play clarinet now!
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Author: Tony F
Date: 2014-07-16 07:57
I have an Emperor with a 575xxx serial number which according to the B & H list I have was one of the last made around 1985. According to that list yours would be about 1980-81. The Emperor was a fairly good intermediate level instrument, probably equivalent to about a Buffet E11 or E13. I have one which plays and tunes well. They haven't been made since the mid-80's but parts are still readily available and the manufacturing and wood quality was pretty good. The Selmer10S goes back to '80-81, depose just means trade mark. Not enough information to say anything about the Yamaha.
Tony F.
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Author: mameshiba
Date: 2014-07-16 08:26
Hi Tony,
Thank you for your prompt reply. I just checked on my Yamaha, it has the name Yamaha Nippon Gakki Japan stamped on the bell, as oppose to the later Yamaha models which has Yamaha Established 1887 stamp. And it has no YCL serial numbers, the only numbers ara: 001373, stamped on the right hand lower body/joint. I sold this Yamaha years ago and after sometime, for sentimental reason, being my first clarinet, I managed to buy it back again.
You mentioned abt parts being readily available, are these refer to the Emperor?
And where can we get them?
I just returned from Japan on 1st July, I went to the Ocha no Mizu area, Tokyo, they have quite a number of serious shops selling serious wind instruments. The Shimokura Shop being most notable for me. It sported more Buffets there, some Selmers, few LeBlancs, and much Yamahas of course. It has a wide glass drawer full of ligatures.
I went there with my son, and was pretty happy that he was excited to see so many clarinets.
Thank You
Bambang
My son is learning to play clarinet now!
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Author: Tony F
Date: 2014-07-16 19:53
From the markings on your Yamaha it's one of the older models. The later series with YCL designations are generally quite good, but the earlier ones were sometimes of mediocre quality.
A company called Windcraft in England has a wide range of parts for B & H. Many of the parts listed are marked for the Edgware model, but these will work OK on your Emperor. Just Google Windcraft and you'll find them.
Tony F.
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Author: mameshiba
Date: 2014-07-16 21:21
Hi Tony and cyclopathic
Thank you so much for the detailed infos and link, I feel very fortunate to be able to find this forum.
The topics are totally awesome and in depth.
As for the Yamaha, I guess I am stuck with it, being my 1st clarinet.
Will checkk on Windcraft and the Selmer link
Thank You
Bambang
My son is learning to play clarinet now!
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Author: mameshiba
Date: 2014-07-20 18:59
I have my other selmer 10S with me now, the serial number is A6751. The other one starts with a B (B4941).
To be honest, I am not familiar at all with the numbering system.
So its alphabetic?
Thank you
Bambang
My son is learning to play clarinet now!
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