 The Clarinet BBoard
|
Author: DICK DAY
Date: 1999-09-28 23:57
I HAVE A SOLID SILVER CLARINET WITH THE LABEL "PAUL DUPRE
CONSERVATOIRE PARIS FRANCE" ON IT.NO SERIAL NUMBER. IT CAME
IN ITS ORIGINAL FORMED CASE, AND IT BREAKS DOWN INTO ALL 4
SECTIONS JUST LIKE ANY WOOD CLARINET, AND EVEN THOUGH IT HAS
A SLENDER BODY LIKE THOSE OLD CHEAP METAL CLARINETS, I ASSURE YOU IT IS MADE WITH QUALITY AND IS SOLID STERLING SILVER WITH GOLD WASH INSIDE THE BELL.IT LOOKS TO BE RATHER
OLD BUT IT IS IN EXCELENT COND. AND PLAYS WITH AN ALMOST
FLUTE LIKE TONE. IF YOU KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT THESE INSTRUMENTS, PLEASE NOTIFY ME. I HAVE RESEARCHED AND WRITTEN
TO MANY, BUT TO NO AVAIL.
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Mark Charette
Date: 1999-09-29 01:07
The New Langwill Index only says:
Dupre, Paul WWI fl Paris, 20c.
1952 advertised as 'a name of distinction for more than 50 years.'
Nothing more.
Curiosity - how have you determined it to be solid sterling silver? With the "gold wash" is would appear to be silver plate on brass, a more common manufacturing method. Good silver plate is indistinguishable from solid sterling unless you've got really deep scratch somewhere.
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Willie
Date: 1999-09-29 02:18
Back in the early 60s when I was in middle school, I played an old silver clarinet that was stamped solid silver above the serial number. It was probably donated as the school most wouldn't have paid the extra price for the metal. I don,t remember the brand but it did have an exceptional tone for a metal clarinet. It had a bright tone some what like my buffet which is a european model (puchased over there). I do have an Elkhart that is silver plated but although it sounds pretty good, it doesn't have that good tone my old school horn had.
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Mark Charette
Date: 1999-09-29 02:45
Willie wrote:
-------------------------------
Back in the early 60s when I was in middle school, I played an old silver clarinet that was stamped solid silver above the serial number.
--------
Yes - all sterling silver I've ever seen would be stamped that way and have a hallmark.
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Lelia
Date: 1999-10-01 21:22
Mark Charette wrote:
-------------------------------
Good silver plate is indistinguishable from solid sterling unless you've got really deep scratch somewhere.
Even a deep scratch won't always tell the truth, because some clarinets are silver plated over "white brass" or nickel silver, either of which will look silver inside the scratch. The clue ought to be that the scratch won't tarnish black the way silver does. Nickel silver, German silver and "white brass" tarnish gray and tend to stay fairly pale. Unfortunately it doesn't work that way, because when you polish the silver plate, black tarnish from the plate gets rubbed into the scratch and blackens it. If you can find a wide, shallow area where you can see that plating has rubbed off to reveal something else underneath (even if you can't tell what the "something" is), then it's not solid sterling. I would assume something is not solid (since that was rare and expensive) unless it's stamped.
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: DICK DAY
Date: 1999-10-04 03:19
BEING A REPAIR TECH, I HAVE DISASSEMBLED THIS INSTRUMENT AND
HAVE EXAMINED IT FAIRLY EXTENSIVLY. I HAVE NOT FOUND ANY BRASS INSIDE OF THE TENONS, INSIDE OR ON THE ENDS OF THE PIVOT TUBES OR ANY WARE POINTS (ALTHOUGH THER IS HARDLY ANY
SIGN OF WARE ON IT.) I SCRATCHED THE INSIDE OF A TENON SOCKET AND STILL NO OTHER COLOR THAN SILVER SHOWS. OTHER THAN A LETTER "F" AND A SMALL "5" THERE ARE NO OTHER MARKS.
IF I FIND ANYTHING MORE I WILL KEEP YOU POSTED.
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: BobD
Date: 2004-02-20 13:16
Because they found a solid silver clarinet made from silverwear
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Don Berger
Date: 2004-02-20 17:55
I looked also in Rendall, Lawson and in US patents for Dupre [with an S / Z attached] and found nothing related to cls, flutes, sterling, silver. Don
Thanx, Mark, Don
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: jim lande
Date: 2004-02-23 03:41
Lelia is right about German/nickel silver looking very similar to sterling until it tarnishes. I once sawed through the posts of a Cundy Bettoney Columbia model. There was no change in metal color -- it looked solid. However, they are plated.
I have the same model Dupree. It plays very well and I am convinced that it was a professional quality instrument in its day. One test for silver is how quickly heat runs through a key. With solid silver, heat moves rapidly though the keys. Dick, take a key from your Dupre and the same key from a different instrument and compare. The difference in heat diffusion should be striking.
I did not notice anything unusual when I restored mine. However, a few makers offered solid silver keys at extra cost, so it is possible that Dicks instrument is different than mine. .
The Silver Kings shipped with sterling silver hallmarks (and occasionally the word "sterling'" on the bells. The bells, or perhaps only a small portion of the bells were sterling. The rest of the instruments were plated. I have only been able to document one maker offering solid silver clarinets. Those would be the Haynes double walled clarinets. Bottom line: I simply don't believe that the body of the Dupre is solid silver. Take it to a jeweler if you are not convinced. (And please then report back.).
Willie: Is it possible your school clarinet was stamped "Silva Bet" rather than solid silver? The Bets are great horns.
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: lyn
Date: 2004-02-24 14:01
Usually when a horn or a flute is solid silver, it is stamped Silver or Sterling, something like that.
If it's not, here is the test we use to test flutes -
Hold it up by the very end of one of the joints at the tenon. Then flick your fingernail against it hard, try to make it ring.
If it goes Thud, it's silver.
If it rings, it's not.
~L
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Taxijazz
Date: 2004-03-15 11:47
It is NOT solid silver, but it might be a silver alloy under silver plate. It is a pro model metal clarinet, and should be considered quite valuable.
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
The Clarinet Pages
|
 |
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
