 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: Margaret
Date: 2007-10-22 14:20
Hello,
My name is Margaret. I realize that you likely get many requests regarding the age of instruments, but I have looked for years to find the age of mine to no avail, so please be patient.
I've been playing my clarinet for 10 years now. It plays well. I bought it used. The person who sold it was a dealer, and not a clarinet player. It appears to be wooden, and the finish has worn off of the keys.
On the barrel and the bell, it has a Normandy crest and no other identifiers. The letters Normandy protrude beyond the confines of the crest on the left and right sides, on these crests and all of the crests I'm going to mention.
The upper joint has a Normandy crest too, with a '4' in the confines of the crest, above the Normandy letters. This crest is at the top, front of the joint. On the back of it, at the top, it says Made in France and at the bottom, at the back of it is the number 7668.
The lower joint has a Normandy crest identical to the one on the upper joint, but located at the bottom, front of the joint. On the back, also at the bottom, is the same number, 7668. Directly below this, is the Made in France lettering.
There are no other identifying marks on it.
I've found some websites with serial numbers for Normandys, but all of them had 5 digit serial numbers, and, as you can see, mine only has four digits, so I was unable to find anything out.
Any help would be appreciated.
Thanks,
Margaret
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Author: Don Berger
Date: 2007-10-22 20:50
Hi Margaret - Welcome to a friendly BBoard. Your description is very complete, Yes, you have a Normandy 4, of the Leblanc "series" of clarinets, Vito, Normandy, Noblet, Leblanc, going up the line. It is of an "intermediate" character, quite suitable as a "student" clarinet. If its dark finish is dull, not shiny, it is probably wood, no cracks, I hope. As to age, without looking up the several serial # sites, I'd guess its from the 1960's. Are the numbers faint?, whereby there could be another number on either end? Others, please help here. Luck, Don
Thanx, Mark, Don
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Author: Margaret
Date: 2007-10-22 23:10
Hi Don,
Thanks for responding to my question! The numbers are not faint. There are only four digits. That's what confused me so much on the serial number sites that I've found. I think it is wooden; it has a dull finish and there are no cracks, but you can see the grain of the wood, particularly on the inside of the bell and upper joint. It certainly doesn't look plastic. The outside has a few knicks that appear to have been repaired. My teacher thinks it's wooden too, but she's unfamiliar with Normandy clarinets. It's nice to know that it's a good student clarinet. I have been playing for 14 years, but have been unable to afford lessons until this fall so I have a lot of catching up to do
Thank you again,
Margaret
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Author: stevesklar
Date: 2007-10-25 09:15
Margaret,
Sounds like an early Normandy 4 back when Normandy was not part of Leblanc - probably from the 1950s.
i have a Normandy 4 from 1978 - my first clarinet. It still plays great and super easy to play top to bottom.
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