 The Clarinet BBoard
|
Author: Susan
Date: 2000-01-19 16:22
Recently I purchased, at auction, a Selmer Clarinet. On the barrel of the clarinet inside of a footballl-shaped marking are the words "H.Selmer A Paris." On the bell it carries the inscription "Alexandre Paris." I have been told that it was made around the year 1915 and is a mid-range clarinet.The instrument is in very good condition. I purchased this instrument for $59.00 and had $47.00 worth of work done to it. I am interested in finding out the value of this instrument. If anyone could tell me approximately how much this instrument is worth, I would greatly appreciate it. I would like this information for insurance purposes.
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Don Berger
Date: 2000-01-19 19:52
Having a Selmer barrel and an Alex. bell makes me wonder, "What does it say on the UJ and LJ and do the serial No.s match?" . If its a "mixed bag", even tho it plays and looks great, its sales value will be poor. Dee has always had good advice re: valuations for the several reasons, and hopefully will add to my [negative-I'm-afraid] comments. Luck, Don
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Lelia
Date: 2000-01-20 12:14
I agree with Don Berger that this clarinet might be a marriage, in which case it may have serious tuning problems in addition to the fact that, as he says, marriages are nearly impossible to sell to anybody who will look at the instrument carefully enough to notice. If it's really as old as 1915 (check the serial number on the "How Old Is My...?" list here on the sneezy.org site), then you may have another problem as well, since many instruments made then were tuned to High Pitch. The standard varied between the USA and European countries, but in all cases, it's too sharp to play in tune with modern instruments. "Pulling out" enough to bring a tuning note down to pitch will throw the registers out of tune with each other so badly that the instrument becomes unplayable for practical purposes. 1915 was right around the turning point when some manufacturers started to make Low Pitch instruments, even though that new international standard wasn't signed and adopted officially by a number of countries until a few years later (1921?). See if you can find the initials HP or LP anywhere on the clarinet. LP means Low Pitch, modern pitch of a=440 Hz.
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
The Clarinet Pages
|
 |
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
