 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: Tallred
Date: 2003-12-30 04:07
I have a 1985 Leblanc Grenadilla Wood L-300 series clarinet. (I only played it for 3 years and it has been unused since 1988.) I can not find this on the Leblanc web site nor can I find out what the value of it is. Any information you could give me would be greatly appreciated. I did see where someone wrote that this L series was only built from 1980-1985. I have contacted the Leblanc web site through their contacts and am waiting on a response, but just thought I would try this web site too.
[ Remainder of post deleted - There is no selling, or the mention of selling an item, permitted on the bulletin board. Please read the rules. Thanks - GBK ]
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Author: Jack Kissinger
Date: 2003-12-30 16:21
I believe the L300 is part of (the end of?) the model series that began with the L7 and also includes (in order) the L70,L27 and L200. The good news is that, when these instruments were in production they were high-end (perhaps top-of-the-line) professional models. The bad news is that these older Leblanc professional models don't seem to get much respect in general. They certainly don't sell well on eBay, usually falling in the $250 - $350 range. I could only find two recent offerings on eBay from this series: an L200 that sold for $276 and an L70 that was offered at $650 and drew no bids. The date range from 1980-85 sounds a little too early to me though it could be correct. Dave Surber at Leblanc told me that my L7 was made between 1970 and 1978. If the the L300's began in 1980, then the three models in between must have had very short runs indeed. (The person who sold the L200 did claim that only 200 had been made. I have no idea whether that is true.)
If you really need the money, I would suggest you try to sell the clarinet locally. See if there are any local music stores that would take your instrument on consignment or try an ad in your local paper. I might try starting at $500 or $600 to see if there's any interest but don't be surprised if you have to negotiate a lower price. If you can do it without damaging the instrument, polishing the keys would be a good touch. Also make sure the instrument is in good playing condition if you go this route.
You can also try listing it in the classified section on this site and/or sign on to the Klarinet list and offer it there.
If you don't need the money right away and can foresee any potential use for the instrument -- either starting back up yourself or keeping it for a child or grandchild, I would hang onto it. $250-$350 will hardly buy a decent new plastic student model instrument these days.
Best regards,
jnk
Post Edited (2003-12-30 16:24)
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Author: donald
Date: 2003-12-30 18:35
i've got an old bootleg cassette recording of my old teacher playing the Finzi Clarinet concerto... on an L200 that he had only just bought a week or so earlier... and he sounded pretty darn good. the L300 was the next model and i remember John Eady owning a pair of these. He won all sorts of competitions and awards and was pretty much an unstopable force for a while there- after taking up full scholarship at the Royal School of Music (London) he swapped to a pair of... wait for it.... Buffet R13s (customised by John McCaw).
i remember these as pretty good clarinets- of course my standards have improved over the years.
donald
(another "tallred")
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Author: Don Berger
Date: 2003-12-30 18:58
I do appreciate the historical advice on this portion of the LeBlanc cl line, since my L7 is "tied" with my Selmer CT as my #1 sop cl. Both great and different!. Don
Thanx, Mark, Don
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Author: jazzman.trane
Date: 2011-05-19 19:01
I have a "L" series that I use mostly for combo gigs as it is pretty bright-but very free blowing. Interesting story-I won it in the Woody Herman scholarship contest in Milwaukee in 1981-Woody was playing it with "The Herd" He gave it to me after a tune and said "play it cool baby". Miss the wood man.
William Nelson
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Author: Luuk ★2017
Date: 2011-05-20 12:38
Hi Tallred,
I've played an L300 for some years while I had lessons. I borrowed it from my teacher; must have been around 1985. He still owns it (although now playing routinely on an Opus). According to the books the L300 costed € 1770, then. (FYI: a Wurlitzer Bb was priced around € 4000 in the same period, an Opus made around € 2000 ten years later.)
I bought my first clarinet arond 1988, an Lx. I was told that was the successor of the L300.
In 1989 I became a member of the wind band my teacher played in, the Philips Symphonic Band. Around 1992 a colleague in the same band got an L2000, still the same L- series acoustical design.
I was told the L in the series name stands for Leon Leblanc's first name (so it's not the L of the family or company name). Leon's ideas were incorporated in the acoustical design. After Leon retired a new line was designed by Tom Ridenour (the Opus - Concerto line).
Nowadays I play an Opus too. I've played Selmer, Buffet and even Wurlitzer for some time but always came back to the comfort and tonal accuracy of the Leblancs. I believe the old Leblanc qualities were continued in the new design (although it's a pity the in-line trill keys were abandonded... ).
The sn of my former teachers' L300 is 67080. I don't know when it was bought; my best guess is 1983. I can ask him, if you want.
Regards,
Luuk
The Netherlands
Regards,
Luuk
Philips Symphonic Band
The Netherlands
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Author: Jack Kissinger
Date: 2011-05-20 14:32
I have an old Leblanc serial number list. I don't remember where I got it and have no idea how accurate it is but it has the same information (in somewhat different format) as two different lists at ClarinetPerfection.com. It only has serial numbers through 1984 for French-made (professional) soprano clarinets. According to that list, clarinets made in 1984 had serial numbers ranging from 55147 to 57480. While annual production around that time varied quite a bit, the company appears to have been making around 2,000 soprano clarinets/year. The list is consistent with the information David Surber gave me a number of years before I came across the list, placing my L7 in 1971. If that list is accurate, it would suggest that either Leblanc increased its production dramatically in 1985 or 67080 was made at least a little later. If your teacher's clarinet's serial number had been 57080, that would be consistent with the list.
Best regards,
jnk
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Author: SteveG_CT
Date: 2011-05-20 14:53
Luuk wrote:
> Nowadays I play an Opus too. I've played Selmer, Buffet and
> even Wurlitzer for some time but always came back to the
> comfort and tonal accuracy of the Leblancs. I believe the old
> Leblanc qualities were continued in the new design (although
> it's a pity the in-line trill keys were abandonded...).
As far as I know the inline trill keys are still used on all of the new Leblanc clarinets, even the Backun models.
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Author: CocoboloKid
Date: 2011-05-20 16:25
The Leblanc Opus, Concerto and (I believe) the Eternite and Ambiance, used the offset trill keys instead of the in-line style. The rest of them (Infinite, Esprit, Sonata, up through the newer Rapsodie and then the Leblanc/Backuns) all use the inline jump keys, but for some reason, Tom Ridenour felt that those few models needed the offset keys.
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Author: Caroline Smale
Date: 2011-05-20 18:10
If I recall correctly the move to offset keys was not Tom's he wanted to retain the in-line on Concerto/Opus but was overuled by Leblanc management. I think they wanted the new models to look more like Buffets, as if that was going to fool anyone, rather than stick with the Leblanc superior design.
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Author: SteveG_CT
Date: 2011-05-20 18:30
Norman Smale wrote:
> If I recall correctly the move to offset keys was not Tom's he
> wanted to retain the in-line on Concerto/Opus but was overuled
> by Leblanc management. I think they wanted the new models to
> look more like Buffets, as if that was going to fool anyone,
> rather than stick with the Leblanc superior design.
>
Makes sense considering that Tom's current clarinets use inline trill keys.
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Author: Luuk ★2017
Date: 2011-05-24 09:37
Re Jack Kissinger:
Yesterday I saw my former teacher and checked the serial nr. of his L300. Your suggestion is right on: the correct number is 57080. It has been wrong in the instrument database of our band since thirty years...
Thanks for the correction.
Regards,
Luuk
Philips Symphonic Band
The Netherlands
Post Edited (2011-05-24 09:37)
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Author: Hank Lehrer
Date: 2011-05-24 13:17
Hi All,
Here is a thread from some time ago where I talk about the L200 I have and still play regularly. There are even some photos of L200 and L300 ads from LeBlanc.
http://test.woodwind.org/clarinet/BBoard/read.html?f=1&i=156490&t=156160
My L200 is always my choice for pit and outdoor work although for chamber and wind ensemble work, I have been leaning toward my Yamaha Custom. The intonation on the L200 is perfect; the Custom not quite as good all around much more ergonomically comfortable.
I'd not be so quick to get rid of the L300.
HRL
PS This is a pretty old thread but I wanted to add my data for the historical value.
Post Edited (2011-05-24 13:19)
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