 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: Curinfinwe
Date: 2010-03-05 14:03
Almost a year ago I bought a set of 926s quite cheap, but in good condition. The person who I bought them from had gotten them from the nephew of who I assume was the original owner, who had passed away. I looked up the serial numbers and the Bb was made in 1961 and the A is from 1957. They are great instruments, with of course the few intonation difficulties.
What I'm really curious about are the three mouthpieces that the seller included with the clarinets. They are all Boosey and Hawkes mouthpieces, and none of them are exceptional. I think they would need refacing to play well.
Mouthpiece Number One:
The ligature and cap seem to match- they both say Made in England. The mouthpiece itself says 926 on the back at the bottom, and then Boosey & Hawkes above that. Above that is a logo of some sort- a circle with a musical note above it, I think. This logo also on one of the barrels that came with the clarinets. Above that there is the number 2.
Mouthpiece Number 2:
The beak seems oddly shaped. I can't quantify it, but it seems a strange shape. It is also unusual in that the tenon has metal around the cork. The tarnishing on the ligature seems to match the metal on the tenon. The mouthpiece cap doesn't seem to match at all and has no markings on it. On the back of the mouthpiece at the bottom, it says very, very faintly Boos.. (space where it's worn off)... Co. Might this be Boosey & Co? Above that it says 13554. Could that be a serial number of some sort? I've never heard of mouthpieces being given serial numbers.
Mouthpiece Number 3:
It very prominently says Reginald Kell 926 on the back. It's still in the box that I assume it was bought in. It has the address on the back of Boosey and Hawkes Canada Ltd. 209-13 Victoria Street, Toronto. I think the seller mentioned at some point that the original owner had been from Toronto. On the top of the box it says The Reg..... Company (Some paper has been torn away). Bore 926 Facing 1 Med. Close.
I've tried to attach pictures- if they don't work I'll just try again.
I don't have any tools to do measurements, but I can try if you tell me exactly what to measure. I'm quite curious to find out exactly what these are. I might in the future get one or some of them refaced.
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Author: Curinfinwe
Date: 2010-03-05 14:18
Still not working. Any ideas why? It says I've either attached too many images or I'm not the author of this message, which I am.
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Author: Caroline Smale
Date: 2010-03-05 15:29
They are clearly B&H mouthpieces.
No1 sounds to be standard 926 ebonite with a no 2 lay (they made 1,2,3)
No 2 does sound like an older Boosey mouthpiece perhaps late 20' early 30s. The number is almost definitely the ser no of the clarinet it came with. Back in those days every single part from mouthpiece to bell had the unique ser no applied.
No 3 is almost certainly one of the Reg Kell branded mouthpieces which I'm sure were made by B&H. I've seen these in past with both 1010 and 926 bores. I assume Reg designed his own lays but no 1 would have been the closest.
The bore of 926 were somewhat like french bores, starting at about 15.1 or 15.2 mm but with a less steep taper than most french makes.
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Author: tictactux ★2017
Date: 2010-03-05 16:32
Please try to shrink the images a bit next time (1.6 MB is rather steep, even these days, many only have a limited bandwith quota for their servers). A standard 800x600 jpeg uses maybe 150K and should be revealing enough.
The B&H Ligature looks cool - now that would be a cool gadget, having a lig with one's initials. :-)
When you think that refacing costs say 50$ then it's evident that only a (hard rubber or wood) mouthpiece with a certain potential is worth doing. Which means, unless they were made from (insert famous name here) blanks they probably aren't worth the hassle, except when selling a "vintage instrument in vintage configuration (original mouthpiece)" to a collector. But not even in that case I'd have it refaced.
--
Ben
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Author: clancy
Date: 2010-03-05 20:55
I agree with Norman.
1.)
This is an old mpc probably from the 50s. Boosey only stamped their symbol on some of the mpcs made after reorganizing in 1950, possibly a few pre 1950. Some were made from Lelandais blanks - more pics would confirm this. Sadly many from this period have very odd shaped chambers and baffle contours making them hard to play and refurbish.
2.)
Hard to say as the serial number is odd. 13554 in the Boosey & Co ledger would put it back a long ways, possibly pre WW1. However if it were a Hawkes & Son piece that serial would date it to the late 1920s. Definitely pre merger which took place in 1930. I have seen some pre war 1010 mouthpieces (1930s) which were designed after a model from the Boosey & Co 14000 series - something special about that design that players liked. So perhaps this was a sought after piece and fell into someones collection.
3.)
Definitely a Reg Kell mouthpiece made by Boosey - is his signature stamped on the mouthpiece? He had a few models, the signature, geometric and another which I cant recall. The signatures had large A framed chambers, trying to mimic Mr Kells own mouthpiece made by Worrell - big deep chamber.
Do they play at all? From my exerience only a very small percentage of original facing Boosey pieces are playable, however with work they can play wonderfully well.
R Wodkowski
www.ramonwodkowski.com
Post Edited (2010-03-05 20:57)
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Author: Curinfinwe
Date: 2010-03-05 22:58
Attachment: Mouthpiece 2.JPG (1605k)
They do play. I haven't tried them in a while so I can't remember characteristics of them; I'll give them a try tomorrow if I get the time and report back.
Sorry, I don't know how to make pictures smaller. Pathetic, I know.
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Author: JJAlbrecht
Date: 2010-03-06 01:53
>>>Sorry, I don't know how to make pictures smaller. Pathetic, I know.
Most digital cameras allow you to shoot at different JPEG compressions and file sizes. Simply set the camera to something besides "Large/FINE" Keep the fine selection (makes curved lines look better) but use a smaller file size. Directions should be in the owner's manual.
You can also resave the file in an image editor, like th eonw that comes with most cameras, or like Paintshop Pro, Photoshop Elements or several free programs like Picassa. Use a setting like "Save for Web"
Jeff
“Everyone discovers their own way of destroying themselves, and some people choose the clarinet.” Kalman Opperman, 1919-2010
"A drummer is a musician's best friend."
Post Edited (2010-03-06 01:54)
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