 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: popap15
Date: 2011-12-27 02:01
I walked into my local music store to get an appraisal on my Leblanc LL clarinet and to buy a couple of reeds. After getting ripped off on the reeds with no alternative, I was told that my instrument was worth only about $350. The instrument is in excellent shape for its age (1983) with only a couple of pads that need to be changed. He claimed that an inability of selling Leblancs in the area is the main reason, but also because it is nickel-plated.
To be honest, I was pretty surprised. Is my clarinet really worth so little? Are his claims valid? Any opinions would be greatly appreciated.
Paul Popa
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Author: SteveG_CT
Date: 2011-12-27 03:18
In my opinion he's low-balling a bit but unfortunately not by a whole lot. Older Leblanc clarinets just don't seem to command prices as high as the Selmer and Buffet clarinets of the same vintage. I bought a Leblanc Dynamique a little over a year ago for around $350 but the LL is probably worth a bit more due to being a newer model. I've seen them sell recently in the $500 range for ones in playable condition. The only pre-1990's Leblanc clarinets I have seen consistently command good prices are the L7's.
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Author: David Spiegelthal ★2017
Date: 2011-12-27 14:06
I think Leblanc clarinets are a bargain. They tune well, they're nicely made, and are inexpensive on the used market. They do seem to have a bit different sound than the clarinets from the other Big Makers (Buffet, Selmer, Yamaha) so it comes down to a matter of tonal preference, in my opinion.
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Author: SteveG_CT
Date: 2011-12-27 14:46
rtmyth wrote:
> The L300 was bored out, and ruined.
>
Everyone knows the story about clarinets being re-bored after arriving in the US and it is definitely one of the reasons why many people avoid the brand. Still, that vast majority of vintage Leblancs weren't ruined like this. I'd wager that if you are buying blind (no play test) off of an auction site you are probably just as likely to end up with a dud R13 as your are an over-bored Leblanc L.
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Author: Ken Shaw ★2017
Date: 2011-12-27 15:29
The LL was a beautifully made instrument, the successor to the Symphonie III. I love the way Leblanc keys lie under my (long) fingers, particularly the trill keys.
The LL responded quickly and had an even scale and good intonation. It's the ideal band instrument.
For me, it didn't have was the sweetness or ringing "orchestral" quality of the Buffet R13 or the open, "jazzy" quality of the Selmer Centered Tone.
I think that the reason the LL isn't worth as much as the equivalent Buffets and Selmers is that few prominent clarinetists played them. Earl Bates in St. Louis was one, and at the end of his career, Leblanc paid Daniel Bonade for his endorsement.
If you like your LL, there's every reason to have it fixed.
Ken Shaw
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Author: Paul Aviles
Date: 2011-12-27 15:39
Still I think the store was only quoting what HE would pay to buy it from you..... so that he can make a decent profit reselling - around $800 ?
I have seen a lot of used horns selling well above a thousand if they are professional level horns in good shape. No reason to unload it unless you want the money for a new Yamaha :-)
..................Paul Aviles
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Author: Lelia Loban ★2017
Date: 2011-12-27 18:28
Paul Popa's setting himself up to make a good decision by getting information before he acts instead of afterwards. The following are generalizations that may not apply to this particular Leblanc. (I'm an amateur clarinet player but an experienced cockroach.)
Dealers who buy and then sell used merchandise generally want to pay about half the price they'll sell for. That difference sometimes outrages people not in the business, who think dealers exploit victims and the difference is all profit. But the difference in buying price and selling price covers not only profit but overhead. The music store has to cover rent, freight, salaries, insurance and utilities, for instance. Even the flea market dealer has overhead: set-up fee, gas, meals, lodging, goods paid for but then lost to shoplifting, etc.. Go to any big weekend extravaganza before daylight and watch dealers crawl out of the backs of their trucks, where they've slept to avoid paying for motel rooms: That's how lousy the profit margin is in that business.
If the instrument needs work, such as re-padding, and if the dealer plans to do the work or have it done before re-selling, then the dealer will figure that expense into the offer as well. Between dealers who know each other and do business together regularly, there can be quite a bit of wiggle-room, especially when they're bundling (part of the payment in money, part in trading of goods), but they're both keeping score.
Conventional wisdom holds that musicians who aren't dealers or cockroaches (pickers) can sell a musical instrument directly to a musician who wants to play it for more money than a dealer will pay, and that similarly, the musician who wants to buy an instrument can get a lower price by cutting out the middleman and dealing directly with the seller. Sometimes things do work out that way. In practice, though, it's not always that simple. People (not just musicians) often over-value their own personal posessions and under-value other people's stuff. Also, the pro dealers, especially the ones who work for music stores, are experienced at knowing exactly what's wrong, what needs fixing and what fixing will cost in both money and employee time.
Lelia
http://www.scoreexchange.com/profiles/Lelia_Loban
To hear the audio, click on the "Scorch Plug-In" box above the score.
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Author: Caroline Smale
Date: 2011-12-27 19:28
Do you actually want to sell it? or was the enquiry for curiosity only.
If the former then it is true that old Leblancs are significantly undervalued in the market for many of the reasons noted above.
If the later then what does it matter..
I am still playing my 1961 pair of LL models and they play just as well now as they did when I bought them 50 years ago. I have no intention of parting with them so their "value" to someone else is of absolutely no importance.
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Author: popap15
Date: 2013-07-21 02:36
Thank you so much for all your replies. I am currently heading off to college and I still have my Leblanc LL. I must admit, I was completely taken with a vintage R13 that I borrowed from my clarinet professor and used for a few performances. However, I am not in a financial position to buy a new instrument, so I have sent it out for repairs/conditioning and will look into buying a better mouthpiece, ligature, and barrel than the stock ones that came with it. I really like my horn, and I will venture to say that it isn't worth it to sell it for so little.
Instead, I will make every effort to improve its sound, and will look into buying a new instrument when the time is right.
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