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Leblanc L70 Replacement

Author: brunopietoso
Date: 2013-04-16 03:45

Hello there,

Recently, I came across this Leblanc L70 clarinet, which apparently was bought from this old factory who went bankrupt.

I noticed there wasn't any serial number on the instrument, so I asked the seller why this was.

He told me that it was an instrument, which both upper and lower joints + bell + barrel were all bought from this factory which made replacement instruments, so that's why there is no serial number for it.

He also bought a few keys from original leblanc clarinets and had to work some of them in on the instrument and so on.

Anyway, is this something that in fact happened? Replacement parts or clarinets that were made, hence no serial number or is it just bs? This seller seems to be quite respectable, good feedback, knows his instruments, but who knows...

Any input would be most welcome!

thanks!

Post Edited (2013-04-16 04:15)

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Re: Leblanc L70 Replacement

Author: Steven Ocone
Date: 2013-04-16 11:54

There was no separate factory for parts. The Leblanc factory was shut down when Conn-Selmer bought Leblanc. The parts were shipped to Selmer which quickly decided that they didn't want them so they sold them. It is possible that your clarinet was made from these parts.

Steve Ocone

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Re: Leblanc L70 Replacement

Author: SteveG_CT
Date: 2013-04-16 14:49

I agree with Steve Ocone that the instrument was likely pieced together from New Old Stock parts. When the Leblanc factories were in the process of being closed down all of the spare parts were sold off. Morrie Backun ended up with a lot of them and was selling them on ebay for a couple of years. Items like upper and lower joints, bells, barrels, and key sets would come up for sale fairly regularly from Backun as well as other sources. It wouldn't surprise me if some people were using these parts to piece together complete instruments.

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Re: Leblanc L70 Replacement

Author: Chris P
Date: 2013-04-16 15:10

There are currently NOS Selmer and Leblanc joints being sold on you-know-where.

Former oboe finisher
Howarth of London
1998 - 2010
The opinions I express are my own.

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Re: Leblanc L70 Replacement

Author: brunopietoso
Date: 2013-04-16 18:43

Hey guys,

Thank you all so much for clearing this out for me. I think that is definitely the case, however the keywork on this one was so poorly attached to the instrument that I've come across many problems with it already. So i pretty much sent it back to the seller. I loved the sound of it, and it was practically new, but the workmanship put into rehauling this instrument certainly was done by some amateur luthier, and I wasn't willing to put in the money and effort into this particular instrument.
Hopefully I made a wise decision?

Thanks!

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