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RE: American Leader Clarinet

Author: jim lande@ erols.com
Date: 2000-01-02 02:50

Never heard of them. If it was made in this country,
then either it was a stencil (meaning made by Ohio Band Instruments or Pedlar etc and then branded with the name of the local music store or distributor) or it was made by someone fairly obscure. You could check the Langwell
index and perhaps learn some more.

If the clarinet is marked made in france, then Herco
might be an import name meaning you still don't know who made the horn, but it might be better than student quality. (or maybe no). The fact that it is wood does not necessarily mean that it was any good to begin with.

One possibility is to take it to a good tech who might be
able to tell you some things.

There are some signs of better unstruments. Silver
plated keys (good solid plating and very smooth).
When you take the keys off, better clarinets tend to use more hinge screws and fewer pivot screws. Thin easy to bend keys are cheap. Look at the low register C# key or the
banana key just above that. Some better clarinets have
the key part (that you press bent) next to the tube and then a similar arrangement for the pad cup. This is very strong. A cheep one may have the pad cup and the part you press all in one piece with the metal tube simply intersecting it.

Don't get your hopes up.

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