 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: George l.
Date: 2014-05-07 02:34
I have a Selmer CT clarinet that has been in my family since the 1950's. It's serial number is P9702. The unique thing about is that it has Benny Goodman's signiture etched in gold on the bell below the Selmer information. It has been suggested that it is a special issue but no one has any hard facts. If you have information about this clarinet I would appreciate hearing from you. I will send photos if anyone is interested in helping me find out what this is.
Larsen234@att.net
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Author: BobD
Date: 2014-05-08 15:49
....and then maybe a former owner just did it for fun
Bob Draznik
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Author: cyclopathic
Date: 2014-05-08 17:10
BobD wrote:
> ....and then maybe a former owner just did it for fun
>
you mean he signed it with his signature?
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Author: BobD
Date: 2014-05-08 18:13
I guess it's impossible to copy someone's signature......
Bob Draznik
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Author: MichaelW
Date: 2014-05-08 19:30
You can find lots of information on Selmer clarinets, the CT and P series and Benny Goodman (“who made these instruments famous”) on the ClarinetPerfection site of “Stevesklar”, including a poster “Benny Goodman joue sur Selmer”. So I suppose Benny’s gold etched signature has to do with the promotion of a special model. I couldn’t find it on this site but think that Steve could say something about it.
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Author: saxlite
Date: 2014-05-09 03:47
Benny Goodman's signature: F*-Bb*-D*-F*-Bb-D*-F-Bb. ( *=register key )
Jerry
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Author: George l.
Date: 2014-05-09 20:04
I know for a fact it was purchased new from a Selmer dealer with this engraved signature. I appears that perhaps it was signed, etched and then filled in with gold paint.
Larsen234@att.net
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Author: George l.
Date: 2014-05-09 20:13
I have been in contact with Steve Sklar and after his contacting his people he is as mystified as I am. He says the signature appeared to have been professionally done. He suggested I contact this board and see if anyone had any idea on where to go from here. Thanks
Larsen234@att.net
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Author: Chris P
Date: 2014-05-09 21:00
Could you post some photos of this clarinet and especially the signature on the bell.
Former oboe finisher
Howarth of London
1998 - 2010
The opinions I express are my own.
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Author: Funfly
Date: 2014-05-10 13:16
Have you compared the 'signature' on your clarinet with an authentic Benny Goodman one?
Martyn Thatcher Mature Student Cheshire U.K.
Clarinet - Yamaha SE Custom
Alto Sax - Yamaha YAS 480
Guitar - Yamaha FG 375-S
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Author: BobD
Date: 2014-05-10 22:05
In my opinion these are not Benny Goodman signatures. In addition they look like they were done with a vibrating tool. Just an opinion.
Bob Draznik
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Author: Chris P
Date: 2014-05-11 01:45
That's a plastic Bundy - at least there's the Selmer connection there.
Former oboe finisher
Howarth of London
1998 - 2010
The opinions I express are my own.
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Author: fskelley
Date: 2014-05-11 03:09
I don't think anything was faked on my cheapo BG, I just think Benny made every $ he could from endorsements- even on low end horns he wouldn't touch. Of course, that could have been forced on him- I bet today's Buffet or other artists end up at least tacitly plugging some gear they'd rather not. (Any of you care to dispute that? LOL)
Stan in Orlando
EWI 4000S with modifications
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Author: DougR
Date: 2014-05-11 09:38
Without contacting Selmer, to find out if they ever specifically made a "Benny Goodman Model" CT, or without contacting Loren Schoenberg, who worked as Benny's assistant for years and would have (as a historian) made it his business to know about this kind of stuff--and not myself having conducted the kind of in-depth web search that makes you forget to eat dinner, I'd have to say it's plausible there might have been an arrangement between Benny and maybe a music retailer to add his "signature" to some CTs just to bump up the price. Also, the "signature" on the plastic Bundy looks reminiscent of the Benny "signature" on the BG mouthpiece, at least as far as I can tell, and of course neither looks like his real signature.
It's odd, though, that nobody so far on THIS board knows anything about this model of horn. Which makes me think the financial arrangement (if it existed at all) was a brief association, nipped pretty quickly by either Selmer (if they got wind of it) or by Benny, who was known to be somewhat, er, changeable.
It's a fun mystery, though!
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Author: fskelley
Date: 2014-05-11 17:09
At the time I bought and sold that plastic BG in 2011, I saw one other identical instrument for sale on Vendio, so of course mine was not unique. That seller was guessing 1930's 40's or 50's- that's a big range. And I said in my 2011 eBay sales description that I had read somewhere (link long since lost) that these were "patterned after" Benny's clarinets... right. At the time I had hoped it would amount to a cheapo CT, but I measured 14.7mm top and bottom of top joint- that's not big enough, is it? Though I did find it pretty easy blowing up high. The keywork was nothing special. If the sound had been really nice, I would have been conflicted- but it was painless to resell.
Son of a gun- I just checked and my eBay sales play test video is still out there... http://www.flmemories.com/C/BG110501.wmv.
Stan in Orlando
EWI 4000S with modifications
Post Edited (2014-05-11 17:15)
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Author: BobD
Date: 2014-05-11 21:56
There is a difference between a person's name and his signature....I believe. No doubt about that being Benny Goodman's name.
Bob Draznik
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Author: DougR
Date: 2014-05-11 22:37
So it seems like we have two different "Benny Goodman signature" clarinets here--a CT and a Bundy. The movie "The Benny Goodman Story" came out in 1956, and presumably Benny was more in the public eye than any time since the late 30s. Could the Bundy and the CT both date from that period?
George, any way you could post pix of the Benny signature on the CT?
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Author: BobD
Date: 2014-05-14 16:20
If you want to see Benny Goodman's signature visit the "Stomp-Off" blogspot and search "If You Think You Have a Benny Goodman Signature" blog. In the article the author also mentions how it was his job for many years to sign autographs for Benny. I suppose we could also get into a discussion of what a "signature clarinet" or any "signature" article really is or implies. It's beyond me.
Bob Draznik
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Author: Funfly
Date: 2014-05-14 20:04
My reeds are 'Signature', does that mean that Benny Goodman used them?
![[huh]](http://test.woodwind.org/clarinet/BBoard/smileys/smilie11.gif)
Martyn Thatcher Mature Student Cheshire U.K.
Clarinet - Yamaha SE Custom
Alto Sax - Yamaha YAS 480
Guitar - Yamaha FG 375-S
Post Edited (2014-05-14 20:05)
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Author: fskelley
Date: 2014-05-14 20:18
The Pete Fountain clarinet series from Leblanc was (I'm pretty sure) originally the "Dynamic H" that Pete actually played. And it stayed that way through the years- that is, if you bought a clarinet with his signature, it was essentially what he played (plus or minus items like articulated G# mechanism, and silver vs nickel vs gold plating). Any dispute to this?
Of course, there are also Pete Fountain mouthpieces and other stuff- perhaps not all of it exactly what he ever used, right?
Not trying to take this thread too far afield, but the larger question is the extent to which artists' endorsements can be trusted. And while we do all agree that the instrument/accessory is only a small part of the whole playing experience, it can useful to know you are working with exactly the same gear that produced a given sound.
Stan in Orlando
EWI 4000S with modifications
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Author: BobD
Date: 2014-05-15 00:09
Clarinetist's endorsements mean about the same thing as those of athletes and other well known people....not that there's anything wrong with that. LeBlanc Kenosha also made a Pete Fountain "signature" plastic clarinet and it also had Pete Fountain's name in cursive style on the bell reminiscent of the BG cursives above.
Bob Draznik
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Author: fskelley
Date: 2014-05-15 00:32
Attachment: stacks_image_5711.jpg (60k)
So I guess the artist signature on some clarinets means about as much as the example in this photo.
Stan in Orlando
EWI 4000S with modifications
Post Edited (2014-05-15 07:34)
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Author: George l.
Date: 2015-11-10 06:36
Attachment: image.jpeg (855k)
Here is a picture of the bell on the seller with the Benny Goodman signature. Sorry it took so long but I hadn't checked the board. I have about given up hope of ever finding any information. I would appreciate hearing from anyone who has any idea about where to look next.
Larsen234@att.net
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Author: Una
Date: 2015-11-10 20:24
That may be one of only a few CTs (if not the only one) with a Benny Goodman signature on it but it doesn't mean much unless it has a certificate of authenticity or other definite way of raising it's value. I'm not sure having an etching of a signature makes it worth more than any other CT. The one thing I always found tacky about the Pete Fountain Leblanc was that his signature or name, was on it.
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Author: George l.
Date: 2015-11-11 07:27
I'm not trying to sell it. It has been in my family to long. I just want to know its history.
Larsen234@att.net
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Author: ned
Date: 2015-11-12 10:21
Funfly wrote " My reeds are 'Signature', does that mean that Benny Goodman used them?''
Don't be daft, of course he didn't use them...but he would have signed them all before they were put in the box...
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