 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: gRAHAM gOLDEN
Date: 2000-10-21 22:06
Hi,
Today I was looking through ebay and found some very odd instruments. there was an albert system clarinet that is very odd, strange octave mech and looks to have potmetal keys.
http://cgi.ebay.com/aw-cgi/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=471408836
There also was an even more odd alto sax that appeared to only decend to low B and resembled a potmetal version of one of Adolph's instruments.
http://cgi.ebay.com/aw-cgi/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=471438420
And then there was a Euphonium with the strangest case I have ever seen.
the other strange thing was they are made for the police bands.
GRaham
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Author: Don Berger
Date: 2000-10-21 23:43
Graham - This clarinet is a display model, prob. non-playing, looks new!! with red thread tenon "corking". Be careful!! Modelled after an early Albert-Muller, only 2 rings on LJ. Presume the sax is on Ebay sax , alto? search , will look. Don
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Author: ron b.
Date: 2000-10-22 01:01
They look like kids toys, gRAHAM, and I'm sure they'll make sounds and, yes, (LOL) ...they're odd. Now you got my curiosity up - what does the Euphonium case look like?
You're right too, Don, the clarinet is a 'simple system' - of sorts. With the red threaded tenons and tinfoil keys, it looks like those things that are coming out of (I think) China. Or is it Peru? Oh, I don't know - whatta you think?
To me, the sax looks like something out of a cereal box.
I mean, we know they're ---- but.... ? Someone's willing to pay real money for them for whatever reason. To each his own I guess. :
ron b.
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Author: Nate Zeien
Date: 2000-10-22 01:36
Graham, police in Britain, America, etc. had whistles and sirens to attract attention, and control crowds. Police in India need noisemakers too, don't they? -- Nate Zeien :-)
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Author: Willie
Date: 2000-10-22 02:35
Funny thing about those "simulated antique" alberts is almost every one I've seen on eBay was "bought at an estate sale". Wouldn't mind having one of those holster cases though for when I ride my Triumph to rehearsal. Have clarinet-will travel, YEE-HAH!
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Author: gRAHAM gOLDEN
Date: 2000-10-22 04:36
Hi,
OOPS!! I meant saxophone not saxohpone.
Anyway. I think the oddest thing was the sax. I agree it does look like something out of a cereal box. The cases for the instruments ( sax and trumpet) are like big boxes. They remind me of the vintage buescher or martin sax cases only these don't have a belt to when you pick it up the instrument ca go where ever it wants.
The Euphonium case looks like a case for a pair of binoculars or a trash can. It just has a big lid on the top of a cylinder.
Graham
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Author: gRAHAM gOLDEN
Date: 2000-10-22 04:53
Hi,
The last I checked the sax was going for 212.00 now thats overpriced!!!!
GRaham
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Author: ron b.
Date: 2000-10-22 06:25
Hard to tell from this side of the fence whether it's overpricing, gRAHAM. I don't remember (and am not anxious to go back to check) whether there's a reserve. As an aside; shill bidding is strictly forbidden on eBay. :o|
Hmmm. Let's see what we have so far. They seem to come mostly from estate sales, none are from pawnbrokers, yard sales or landfills -- prompts me to wonder if they're biodegradeable.... :o)
ron b.
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Author: gRAHAM gOLDEN
Date: 2000-10-22 18:35
Hi,
There was no reserve and it is overprice IMO because it only goes down to low B and has no Alternative fingerings so it would be hard to play any thing that wants in C.
I cant speak for the clarinet though. It looks to be a decent instrument if you just want to have somethying to hang on the wall.
Graham
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Author: Lelia
Date: 2000-10-23 12:55
I recognize that clarinet. I asked around among dealers several months ago (in fact, I think I asked here, too), and found out it's made in China, imported from China to India, and then sold here through a catalogue imports outfit. Most of the sellers, at least in the mid-Atlantic area of the USA, seem to be flea market dealers from India , Pakistan and Russia. The "got it an estate sale" line is pure garbage. These are brand-new clarinets of the lowest quality I've ever seen.
The auction ended at $51, unfortunately for the buyer, who could have had this instrument brand new at almost any large flea market in the East for about US$25. Prices at flea markets started at around US$100 two summers ago, but have fallen steadily as people have found out what this instrument is. The bright red thread on the tenons is the easy giveaway -- and often starts unravelling right there at the flea market, as people try to put the sections together. The pads are bright red plastic. I'm not sure what that metal is on the keys, tenon bands, etc. -- in fact, I wouldn't bet on it being solid metal. It reminds me very much of cheap children's jewellry. I think it's thin pot-metal plate over plastic, but I'm not positive about that -- it might be exceptionally lightweight potmetal. It's nothing you'd want in a clarinet key, that's for sure. The clarinet comes with a reed attached, BTW!
The overall appearance is extra-cheap and extra-tacky and the weight is startlingly light -- but that's not a recommendation to buy it for small children (or anybody else). Evidently (according to a Russian flea market dealer who told me he bought his clarinet wholesale through a catalogue) the suggested retail price is $99. I've never played one of these clarinets, but I've handled them at flea markets. Thekeywork was very loose . On the ones I've looked at, many of the pads visibly failed to seal -- so leaky the gaps were obvious to the naked eye. IMHO these clarinets are real instruments, but so poorly made that they might as well be toys. One dealer comes right out and tells people she's selling them "as decorations." IMHO, when one of these turns up on eBay, as they're sure to do -- RUN AWAAAAAAAY!!!!
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Author: Bill
Date: 2000-10-23 13:08
--- and the eBay seller has the highest negative feedback rating I've seen. Yet, people bid anyway.
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