 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: dethanjl
Date: 2003-09-22 01:52
i recently bought a used clarinet on ebay (i know, not a good idea). i'm actually pretty happy with the instrument! the finish is worn on the keys from use, but it is otherwise in very good shape! pads and corks are in place and seal very well! i have 1 slightly sticky key, but i think it's getting better with a little oil and working it a little.
it is a century dura-nyl by cundy bettoney of boston. AP 717 is stamped on the upper and lower tennon. i'd like to find a little info on the history of the instrument. when it would have been made, etc.
i've found a serial number list online that ends at 1952 and has no mention of a century or dura-nyl, just metal and wood instruments. they apparently had a contract to manufacture the metal clarinets for the military, but that's about all i can find online! no mention about what happened to the company, whether it simply folded, or was bought out by a larger company. any info would be greatly appreciated.maybe it's silly, but i'd just like to know more about the instrument. it is fairly forgiving, concidering i haven't played since high school (20-sum years now)!
thanx
dave
if you can't be good... be good at it!
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Author: ron b
Date: 2003-09-22 04:04
I have one of those tucked away somewhere. I originally intended to use it as a loaner, repadded it, etc., and discovered it was not a bad little horn after all. In fact I considered donating it to a school, since it was a pretty OK 'student' instrument, but they had enough clarinets and didn't need any at the time. Sorry I don't know anything about C-B history, Dave, but the one I have is not bad. I can see why they might have been good military band horns. That part is better left to the historians amongst us.
Did you clean the screw before oiling? If nothing's bent or twisted, cleaning first might even better eliminate the sluggishness.
So, you took a twenty-year pause. Compared to some of us around here, that's but a brief intermission :]
- r![[cool]](http://test.woodwind.org/clarinet/BBoard/smileys/cool.gif) n b -
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Author: BobD
Date: 2003-09-22 16:29
I have a couple of metal ones waiting to be restored. Search Google on the company. Interesting history which is probably symptomatic of the wind instrument business in general.
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Author: Don Berger
Date: 2003-09-22 18:42
There is a lot of Harry Bettoney's history, before association with Cundy and after, just waiting for you if you Search our archives. The dura-nyl however is new to me, but lots of unusual names have shown up on the metal cls of 1910-40's. Need help, Jim Lande!! Don
Thanx, Mark, Don
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Author: Todd W.
Date: 2003-09-22 19:27
If the clarinet is not metal, is it possible that DURA-NYL is an abbreviation/contraction of "durable" and "nylon," indicating the material of which the instrument is made?
Todd W.
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Author: dethanjl
Date: 2003-09-23 01:02
yes, you are quite correct on the dura-nyl definition. it is a nylon/plastic/resonite/ebonite/whatever clarinet. that's part of what has me sitting on the confused couch, i've found reference to the company's wood and metal clarinets, but never any reference to these "composite" instruments.
it is a wonderfully forgiving instrument. by that, i mean: yes i occasionally get a squeek or sqwak, but concidering the break in playing and my dental condition... i have an upper and a lower tooth missing up front just now and another loose (brush 'em after evrey meal, kids) and occasional pains from others. it's a wonder i can play at all, much less have same wonderful music comming from the instrument. brings back a flood of memories sometimes!
i've been long winded enough here, thanx for letting me ramble.
dave
if you can't be good... be good at it!
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Author: Don Berger
Date: 2003-09-23 15:06
In the 1930's, by DuPont, can "dig up" patent #'s in needed. Look up in technical encyclopedias in your libraries. Don
Thanx, Mark, Don
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Author: Don Berger
Date: 2003-09-23 15:17
Nylon, major inventor Wallace? Carothers, many differing compounds, perhaps hexamethylene diamine "condensed " with adipic acid [66, I believe, my top-of-head chemistry!!], searched the patent art years ago!! Don
Thanx, Mark, Don
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Author: Don Berger
Date: 2003-09-23 16:33
Carothers patents US 2,071,250 and 251, issued 1937, more 1938+. Don
Thanx, Mark, Don
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