 The Clarinet BBoard
|
Author: Bradley
Date: 2003-03-23 01:23
What does everyone think of the Selmer Mazzeo?
From my knowledge ( which has a tendancy to be faulty- lol), they were made during the Great Depression of the 20s and 30s , and no-one could really afford them. Then, Bundy made the same clarinet in plastic so it was affordable ( with not nearly as much features , of course), but it was supposed to be a wonderful plastic clarinet, and one the best made. The Selmer Mazzeo is supposed to be even better. I found a pair of them in excellent condition- because like me and my friend joke, Selmers never die ( go on Ebay to prove this....) . I was wondering if they would be worth my time as instruments just to have. I will always be a Leblanc player it looks like, so these would just be backup pair of Bb and A.
Bradley
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: CPW
Date: 2003-03-23 02:06
I think they came out in the early 1960s at the same time as the series9 and 9* . They have some added keys and different hole placements. Mazzeo played in the Boston Symphony at the the time of Gioffi. He was a real rennaisance man and good friend of Anzel Adams the famous photographer.
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Bradley
Date: 2003-03-23 02:20
Oh, ok- thanks
I know they have full boehm.....
So do you think they are worth my while?
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Wes
Date: 2003-03-23 07:20
Well, I overhauled a full Boehm Selmer Series 9 type Mazzeo system clarinet a couple of years ago. It had a very beautiful piece of wood and a marvelous sound. It was very difficult to adjust and very awkward for a non Mazeo player to play. The non-Mazzeo Bb fingering intonation was hard to deal with. There is a switch lever on it that sort of allows the player to select Mazzeo or conventional clarinet to play but then you have to deal with that Bb. I found it to be a pain to play and would not play one under any circumstances despite the great sound. The regular Boehm clarinet is a wonderful simple design that is easy to maintain and is quite reliable by comparison.
Obviously, not everyone agrees with the above and the regular Mazzeo system would be easier to use than the full Boehm. Mazzeo was a very bright person and one of my teacher's teachers but I'm surprized that Selmer made his clarinet design.
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Ed
Date: 2003-03-23 11:56
I have known some who used and loved this design. An old teacher of mine had one of these clarinets and also had it on his bass clarinet. It is just something you have to play with and see if it works for you.
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Bradley
Date: 2003-03-24 11:28
Ok thanks....
I am thinking of trying out the pair, just because they would be nice to have- but I still am not decided yet....
How much do you think a Bb and A in excellent condition is worth?
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Ken Shaw ★2017
Date: 2003-03-24 18:05
Bradley -
Sherman Friedland was a student of Mazzeo and played his instruments for many years. He's written a lot on them on this site. See:
http://www.woodwind.org/clarinet/Friedland/Article006.html
http://www.woodwind.org/clarinet/Friedland/Article015.html
http://www.woodwind.org/clarinet/Friedland/Article035.html
http://www.woodwind.org/clarinet/Friedland/Article037.html
http://www.woodwind.org/clarinet/Friedland/Article040.html
http://www.woodwind.org/clarinet/Friedland/Article041.html
http://www.woodwind.org/clarinet/Friedland/Article046.html
http://www.woodwind.org/clarinet/Friedland/Article079.html
http://www.woodwind.org/clarinet/Friedland/Article098.html
The instruments were introduced in the late 1950s and were in production for only a few years. They were made by Selmer, mostly as Bundys, with a few Signets and a few Selmer Paris Mazzeos, based on the large-bore Selmer Centered Tone design.
The Selmer Paris Mazzeo Personal Model was a full-Boehm instrument with a number of additional keys and mechanisms, including a link between the G#/Eb key (for the right little finger) and the C#/G# key, a trill mechanism for third-line B to C#, a low Eb lever for the left little finger, the Mazzeo throat Bb mechanism, a plate for the left thumb and a redesigned register key that wrapped halfway around the thumb plate, with a higher register vent, plus a redesigned bell with almost straight sides and no bottom ring. The A clarinet also had a low Eb. There was complete duplication of all right and left hand little finger keys, so you never had to slide.
If you like the way the 1950 Selmers play, then these instruments may be for you. I'm not sure the Mazzeo Bb mechanism can be disengaged for the top-line instruments, but a moveable lever is easy for a competent repair tech to add.
With the low Eb and the extra keywork, the instruments are quite heavy, and the spring for the Ab/Eb key has to be very stiff, since it's connected to several other keys.
If the instruments you're looking at are the full Selmer Mazzeo Personal Model, the seller is likely to want a collector's price. It's up to you whether you want this rather uncommon pair of instruments. As playing instruments, I'd say they're worth no more than $2,000 for the pair, or perhaps $2,500 in pristine condition. Remember, though, that you can get a Centered Tone pair for half that.
Best regards.
Ken Shaw
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Ed
Date: 2003-03-24 18:11
"I'm not sure the Mazzeo Bb mechanism can be disengaged for the top-line instruments...."
To my knowledge, even the high end instruments had the clutch which would disengage the mechanism, but someone may be able to verify this for sure.
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Bradley
Date: 2003-03-24 21:28
Well - about getting a centered tone pair- I wasnt looking at these as a bargain or anything, I just wanted this particular set because they are somewhat "special".
I'm not even sure I would play them as much as I'd like.....
Btw- these are the Selmer Paris top of the line Mazzeos
Bradley
Thank You all ( especially Ken Shaw) for helping me with this.....
Post Edited (2003-03-24 22:29)
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Ralph
Date: 2003-03-24 23:53
To follow-up on Ken's post, there recently were two Mazzeo style Selmer's on e-Bay. One was a series 10 and the other was a Series 9*. Both had "normal" keywork. In a prior post, someone stated that Selmer made approximately 16,000 Mazzeo models. No breakdown as to number of Bundy's, Signets, Selmer Paris models was given. Happy hunting !!
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Hank Lehrer
Date: 2003-03-25 11:36
Hi,
I paid about $60 for a perfect Mazzeo Bundy on eBay. Perfect case and no re-pading needed. I bought it for the occassional moist, outdoor gig. It came with a so-so Woodwind educator MP.
I just wanted to have one having had a quick lesson from Mazzeo at the Midwest Band Clinic in the early 1980s. He was great but was pushing the clarinet. Funny, at the same convention, I chatted with Portnoy as well (told him I was still playing my original BP02 MP which I still play today).
HRL
PS I guess the new clarinet leadership (Smith, Combs, Ridenour, Grabner, etc) are the ones that you see at Midwest now. Youngsters, go meet these people and talk to them and you can say on the BB in 20 years "I remember when I ......." Great stuff!
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
The Clarinet Pages
|
 |
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
