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Conn Clarinet Question

Author: Martha
Date: 1999-11-01 20:16

I have a Conn "Director" wooden clarinet that was recently given to me. Except for a few pad adjustments it seems to be in fairly good condition. I don't have much knowledge of Conn clarinets or of thier quality. Does anyone have any information on this brand of clarinet, or what brand it could be compared to?

Thank you.

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RE: Conn Clarinet Question

Author: Don Berger
Date: 1999-11-01 21:41

I believe you can look up the age of your Conn via serial no. [on the back of one or both joints] on Sneezy, Equipment, How old is My?, or post the # and I can look it up. Conn made quite good cl's in the 40's-60's for the student trade, not as good as the Buffet-Selmer-LeBlanc pro horns of that time period however. I have a plastic Conn Director of that time period, quite good. In good playing condition, it should be equivalent to Selmer's Signet, LeBlanc's Normandy and Buffet's Evette, in my opinion. Don

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RE: Conn Clarinet Question

Author: Lelia
Date: 1999-11-04 17:57

I 'm the original owner of a 1958 wooden Conn Director. Cragi Rasband, from the alt.music.saxophone newsgroup, just sent me some information from his 1958 and 1963 Conn catalogues. This is a student-quality clarinet, which Conn made in several different options and changed a number of times over the years, evidently. The wooden one was intermediate quality, but Conn also made this instrument in hard rubber and in plastic. The plastic and rubber models were marketed to beginners. Unfortunately, all the Conn Directors have one thing in common: pot metal keys. These are weak. As a 90-lb. weakling in my early teens, I bent a right-hand pinkie key touch while playing and broke it trying to bend it back! So, whatever you do, don't try bending a key. If a key must be bent, take it to a pro repair person and bear in mind that even a pro may break the key in trying to bend it. I also had intonation problems with my Director and understand that poor intonation is generally a problem with this model. However, I played first chair all four years in my high school orchestra with this instrument. It's not the greatest, but it's far, far from the worst!

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