The Clarinet BBoard
|
Author: clarimad
Date: 2010-02-23 06:49
Did B&H ever make Bb Emperors with nickel plated keywork? I've only ever seen them with silver plated keys.
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Caroline Smale
Date: 2010-02-23 19:29
Yes, all the early Emperors were nickel plated, that was one of the main differences between them and the Imperial (926) of which the early ones were an EXACT copy.
I believe the silver plate came in when the Emperors were cost reduced and things like barrel screws were used instead of the point screws (and even on some Emperors rods throughout even on the LH F/C lever - I own one such clarinet made in 1953.)
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: clarimad
Date: 2010-02-24 06:55
Ive since been able to date mine to 1952. There are none of the usual pivot screws - all are rod screws!! In your post do you mean the Imperials were copies of the early Emperors?
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Caroline Smale
Date: 2010-02-24 19:31
No other way around, Emperor is copy of Imperial.
In fact nearly all B&H postwar models except of course 1010s were based on the Imperial 926, that includes Regent/Edgware/Emperor etc etc. They all have fundamentally the same bore shape and acoustic design.
With however the early Emperors such as yours ( I would imagine ser. no. in low 8xxxx range) were built virtually identically to the Imperial apart from plating and probably less time spent on the final tuning.
Think yourself lucky... the later instruments received at most a cursory blow before they left the factory - a colleague of mine in the band in 1960 used to go to Edgware on some afternoons to do just that.
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
The Clarinet Pages
|
|