 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: nickma
Date: 2005-12-22 19:31
Would you be able to advise me?
I play a lovely late Y series Bb, which is nice and even, projects well and is sweet.
I now need an A to accompany it. Old 10G As are quite hard to find, and I have the opportunity of buying a brand new one, via a local retailer, directly from Selmer, at a good price now it is a discontinued line.
My question is this: in anyone's experience what are the last of 10Gs like?
My pojnts of reference are:
I have tried D and E series and they are all pretty one dimensional and dull. They feel thinner walled than the original design.
Of the early ones, an X series I had sounded great but was a wee bit uneven. Most Ys I've tried have been great, even if the holy grail is Z through to A1200. I had an A series pass through which was lovely. All of them were Bb clarinets.
I am hoping that the last of the 10Gs might be better than the middle years, and of course the proof will be in the playing, but I'd love to hear any experiences of anyone with the very most recent ones from this century.
Many thanks in advance.
Nick
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Author: Bob Phillips
Date: 2005-12-23 16:02
A colleague has a 10G Bb. It feels interchangeable with my Buffet R13. SORRY.
He complements his 10G with an amazing Yamaha A. This horn came to him from a fellow who was a Yamaha Performer.
I've recently seen both Yamaha and Selmer 10G A clarinets at auction --of course you'd have to arrange to audition the horns.
Bob Phillips
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Author: Brent
Date: 2005-12-23 16:28
Just as a point of reference, i have an late Z-series 10G A clarinet, purchased at auction online. It sounds very nice, plays pretty well in tune (especially after adding a Grabner barrel--the original gave me wide twelfths) but the response is a little uneven. Nothing that cannot be compensated for, but less than a perfect instrument.
The point being that the "holy-grail" set of serial numbers does not mean that the instrument will be good--or more to the point, right for you.
Being discontinued, i suppose you can't get several at once to try?
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Author: nickma
Date: 2005-12-24 19:16
Sadly not. This appears to be a one off that Selmer is clearing out. Having played it, it sounds good, is pretty even, but has a split that needs pinning. So we shall see. If the price is right I shall buy it though.
You are so right about serial numbers. But Ralph Morgan's Z and early A series will be more regular from from one instrument to another than the Ys or later As. It just depends on finding a good one. My Y is fantastic, albeit with a slightly sharp altissimo. I am going to sort that out together with beefing up the throat notes by changing the design of the register key tube.
Nick
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Author: Chris P
Date: 2005-12-24 20:10
I've just built a forked Eb mechanism that fits between the existing pillars on the top joint (but still had to add a chimney for finger/ring 3 and vent between fingers 2 and 3), I might build an improved Bb mechanism that seperates the throat Bb from the speaker tube as on some full Oehlers - if this is successful I might then do the same on both my Series 9 Full Boehms, then think about a low F, E and Eb correction device to bring them up to pitch.
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Author: nickma
Date: 2005-12-25 15:17
Will do: it's going under the knife second week of January, so should be able to report in a month.
Nick
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