 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: fredackerman
Date: 2004-04-15 02:35
OK, I know this is a strange question, but that never stopped me before! Does anyone have any idea how many BT's Selmer made? Ballpark figure? A good guess? Thank's
Fred
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Author: Vytas
Date: 2004-04-15 03:05
Selmer made about 13 thousand BTs
Vytas Krass
Pro clarinet technician.
Custom clarinet mouthpiece maker.
Former pro clarinet player.
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Author: fredackerman
Date: 2004-04-15 22:59
Thank you Vytas! Now that we have a number, is there some sort of mathematical [or not] formula...to determine how many of those horns from the 30's are still around today. I guess repair people know how many they themselves have worked on... + natural and unnatural attrition. Is there a way to come up with a figure?
Fred
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Author: billryan
Date: 2004-04-20 20:32
Mr. Krass says that Selmer made "about 13 thousand BTs". Mr. Ackerman asked "is there some sort of mathematical [or not] formula..." This question made me think who the owners back in the thirties were? My guess (and this is not a educated one) is that many of those BTs were in England, Germany, Italy and all of the overrun countries besides what was sent to America and elsewhere. This means that in addition to natural (fire, floods, poor storage and whatnot) many Selmers must have been destroyed by bombs, axis soldiers going though civilian homes before, during and just after the end of World War II. So, I bet there are less than 1000 (playable) Bts left! This is my guess, anyone have a better one?
Bill
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Author: Henry
Date: 2004-04-20 21:25
No...but I was amused by the statement: "My guess (and this is not a educated one) is that many of those BTs were in England, Germany, Italy and all of the overrun countries besides what was sent to America and elsewhere. This means that in addition to natural (fire, floods, poor storage and whatnot) many Selmers must have been destroyed by bombs, axis soldiers going though civilian homes before, during and just after the end of World War II."
Of course, the BTs that were looted by the axis soldiers are possibly still being played quite merrily by their ancestors! Also, this reminds me of an incident that occurred sometime after we were liberated in 1944 in the Netherlands. We had a British transport company stationed in our neighborhood. They supplied the allied troops that were fighting in Germany. Most of the families voluntarily housed some of these Tommies in their houses between trips. We had two of them. Great guys (Ronnie and Leslie)! I don't know how we fit them in, considering we had a very small house and there were the six of us! One day, Ronnie and Leslie came back from their latest trip in a very depressed mood. They said that they had found a very nice piano in an abandoned German house. Knowing how musical all of us were, they tried to load it onto their truck to present it to us as a present. (Hey, it would have been small compensation for what we went through for more than four years!) However, their officer stopped them at the last moment with the comment: "That goes too far!"
This is one of the reasons I never got to play the piano, which I regret to this day!
Henry
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Author: Don Berger
Date: 2004-04-20 21:40
A VERY interesting story, Henry, a bit similar to one told by a close [cl etc, playing] friend, whose brother "liberated" several cls and saxes from an opera house in Germany [WW 2] and still has several of them. Insts. also go from person to person and survive! Don
Thanx, Mark, Don
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Author: John O'Janpa
Date: 2004-04-20 21:52
For some reason. (heard or saw it somewhere ?) I have been under the impression that the "RIs", "BTs", and "CTs" were made for the American market, and that their brethren european clarinets were not marked this way.
Can anyone out there clarify this, one way or the other?
John O'Janpa
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Author: Synonymous Botch
Date: 2004-04-20 22:28
"Hey Henri, watch zees..."
"OOooo lala, zee nouveau clarinette c'est merveilleux...
Just like all the ones we have always made, only with a 'grading' stamp
so that they will know the 'good ones' on sight.."
Bon marque depose... Bon Trademark... BT!
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Author: mw
Date: 2004-04-21 17:05
John, I have been told much the same as to exports to the post-depression American market & the creation of a special model or line.
IMO, there are many, many more than 1000 BT's in existence today.
mw
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Author: fredackerman
Date: 2004-04-22 01:20
"post-depression American market" I thought the BT's were produced in the 30's? What was the final year of production? Did the French keep on making them during the Nazi occupation?
Fred
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Author: mw
Date: 2004-04-22 07:19
... the Great Depression began in 1929 & the economic affects (& aftershocks) were felt for a number of years afterward, depending on which economist or historians view you look to.
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