 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: Steve
Date: 2000-01-18 11:32
Hi,
I just bought a clarinet at a pawn shop. The name engraved into it is "Majestic" but I haven't been able to find any references to Majestic clarinets. The only other markings I can find are a 4 digit serial # and "made in Italy". I'd like to find out more about it.
Also, how can one tell if a clarinet is made out of wood or "milled resin" which apparently looks like wood? I'm sorry to ask such a hideously stupid question.
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Author: Mark Charette
Date: 2000-01-18 12:05
Majestic was a trade name employed by the Rudolph Wurlitzer Company of Cincinnatti / Chicago. No idea about the age or value.
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Author: Dee
Date: 2000-01-18 12:08
Steve wrote:
-------------------------------
Hi,
I just bought a clarinet at a pawn shop. The name engraved into it is "Majestic" but I haven't been able to find any references to Majestic clarinets. The only other markings I can find are a 4 digit serial # and "made in Italy". I'd like to find out more about it.
Also, how can one tell if a clarinet is made out of wood or "milled resin" which apparently looks like wood? I'm sorry to ask such a hideously stupid question.
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It is not a stupid question. Most plastic or resin clarinets are lighter than wooden ones. So if you know someone with a wooden one, weigh each of them. Or just pick one up and then the other. The difference is generally noticeable.
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Author: steve
Date: 2000-01-18 13:19
majestic/wurlitzer also made/imported string instruments....the majestic line of tenor banjos were jazz age standards....perhaps you should use the clarinet in a dixieland ensemble....:)
regards, s.
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Author: Lelia
Date: 2000-01-18 14:39
I think all the Wurlitzer clarinets were stencils, so it might have been made by almost anybody. Several different manufacturers have used the "Majestic" model name, but the largest that comes to mind is Buescher. Buescher made a lot of stencil instruments for various brand names and may well have supplied clarinets to Wurlitzer, although I'm guessing about this and don't know for sure.
To tell whether or not a clarinet is made of wood, look at the end grain on a tenon joint. In other words, hold up the section so that you're looking into the bore. Look at the cut-off ring under a strong magnifying glass both around the rim and just inside the bore. If it's some sort of composition material, that tenon end will have a completely smooth texture, like plastic, with no real grain in it, even if there's a grain-like color pattern on the outside. If it's wood, you'll be able to see the fiber structure of the wood where it's been cut off. There should be a little bit of "checking" -- tiny air spaces between the fibers. You can learn to tell the difference easily, if you take the magnifying glass to a retail music store and compare a clarinet you know for sure is wood with one you know for sure is not.
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Author: Steve
Date: 2000-01-18 14:56
Oops, I just realized that I didn't read the mark carefully enough. It's not "Majestic," it's "Mayestic". Does that ring any bells?
Thanks to everyone who's responded so far...
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Author: ron
Date: 2000-01-20 06:10
Hi, Steve -
I'm sure you'll find some informative responses to your post.
Please remember: there is no such thing as a 'dumb question'. Yours is as valid as anyone else's. We're friendly folks here (99.9% anyway) and about as helpful and sharing a bunch as you'll find anywhere.
Ron
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Author: Willie
Date: 2000-01-21 04:58
If the barrel or bell doesn't match the rest of the clarinet means somebody might have changed the barrel for tuning purposes or more likely, as I've observed in pawn shops, poeple looking at two or more clarinets have a tendancy to put pieces back in the wrong case. You might want to go back down to that store and see if the matching parts are in another case.
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