The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: klook
Date: 2011-07-16 15:39
I've got an old clarinet by Boosey and Co., which predates the Boosey & Hawkes name.
Its marked LP and has the general length of an clarinet in the key of A.
My question is, at this point in Boosey's history, was their LP A=440 or A=435?
Its a nicer hard rubber clarinet with good sturdy keys, Albert system. I'd like to overhaul it however an A-435 clarinet might be hard to play in tune even with a shorter barrel?
Any ideas would be great, thank you!
mark
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Author: klook
Date: 2011-07-16 15:46
Oh, the serial number seems to date the clarinet out at pre-1910.
mark
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Author: Chris P
Date: 2011-07-16 16:10
Low pitch in Britain at this time was 439Hz - in France it would've been 435Hz, so as it's a Boosey&Co. it's probably at 439Hz which is near enough 440Hz. You'd have to check it with a tuner to be on the safe side.
If it's 439Hz then it should be fine with other 440Hz clarinets (though don't use a Vandoren "13 Series" mouthpiece with it unless you like hard work) but will be flat when played along with flutes!
Short barrels won't raise the pitch uniformly on any clarinet - they'll have more effect on the pitch of the upper left hand and throat notes and not much effect on the right hand notes.
Former oboe finisher
Howarth of London
1998 - 2010
The opinions I express are my own.
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Author: klook
Date: 2011-07-16 17:44
Alright, that's what I wanted to hear.
This clarinet is nice, one interesting thing is the G# key is mounted on the left side of the upper section, not the typical crossover setup found on most every other clarinet!
There's some corroded key rods I'm having a hard time with and some broken rusty springs, but, everything is straight and should come out just fine!
mark
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Author: clancy
Date: 2011-07-16 19:45
What is the serial number?
R Wodkowski
www.ramonwodkowski.com
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Author: clancy
Date: 2011-07-16 21:15
Yes that certainly is old - my list puts it at about 1910....haven't seen many of that age floating around.
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Author: Mark Charette
Date: 2011-07-16 21:46
Clancy, please include a legitimate email address in your profile. You can choose not to have it exposed publicly, but the moderators must be able to contact you.
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Author: klook
Date: 2011-07-16 22:16
Yes, its quite ancient, and hard rubber!
I have one pesky key rod for a long LH pinky key that won't come out. Of course!
mark
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