 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: Henry
Date: 1999-03-22 03:20
Another question on metal clarinets . . . .
I have one called a "Clari-Met" that was manufactured by Penzel Mueller & Co. (Long Island City, New York). Three digit serial number. Can anyone tell me anything about the company, and does the instrument have any special value?
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Author: Mark P.
Date: 1999-03-22 11:54
I've always been kinda interested in Penzel Mueller after playing an old E flat back in high school and finding that it was really pretty good. And finding a PM Artist mouthpiece for tenor which is excellent.
PM began operations in 1899 after the merger of G Penzel and Mueller. Mueller was a clarinetist and businessman in New York City. They went out of business sometime in the 60s, at one point I had a 1964 catalog of their instruments and accessories. They had/have the reputation of being one of the best of the US makers of clainets though they never competed at the level of Beffet or Selmer. Long Island City is now part of New York City, I believe it's part of Queens.
Some of the mouthpieces they made are very good and seem more common than the instruments themselves now. I found one reference to a professional bass clarinetist who has two of them that he uses and wishes he could find some more as backups.
I have a matched set of B flat and A wood clarinets by PM circa 1915. The keys are a little different in size and placement, but the tone is excellent.
They made metal clarinets as did everybody else in the 1920-1950 period.
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Author: Dee
Date: 1999-03-22 12:13
The large majority of metal clarinets belonged to the student, marching band category. Not bad horns but not great either. Although there are some exceptions, the majority have only a little value to the people that want them as curiosities. There were so many made. About 10% of the instruments on the eBay online auction are metal horns and there are more stuck away in attics across the country.
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