 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: fuzzystradjazz
Date: 2015-12-17 11:24
I've looked online (not very diligently) for the past few years to see if I might find a simple system (i.e. Albert system) bass clarinet. However, I've never run across one yet. Do any of you happen to know if they are common or rare?
Thanks!
Fuzzy
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Author: Tony F
Date: 2015-12-17 12:33
They were fairly common once, but not much during the last 60 years or so. Boosey and Hawkes used to make one, and I know where one might be found. Email me direct if you're interested.
Tony F.
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Author: ned
Date: 2015-12-17 14:36
I was the middle man in Melbourne for the sale of an Albert system bass clarinet, to another friend in Sydney, and I believe they are fairly rare, at least in our neck of the woods.
This clarinet was once owned by Raymond Burke a noted New Orleans player.
Incidentally, on the same night that I was middlemanning (as it were) I wore (briefly) Barney Bigard's greatcoat - it was in the possession of the seller who suggested that I might be interested in seeing it.
So, in the space of about two hours, I played Raymond Burke's bass clarinet and wore a piece of Barney Bigard's couture.
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Author: Wes
Date: 2015-12-17 23:49
Yes, I saw one for sale in India in the summer of 1972 in a music store in New Delhi. They wanted $50 for it but I didn't have room for it in my luggage. However, on that trip, I bought a B&H oboe for $7, quite worn, probably from the British era in India.
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Author: fuzzystradjazz
Date: 2015-12-18 00:05
Haha - Thanks for all the responses! Evidently, they must be pretty rare.
Ned: You have my personal envy. Raymond Burke is a favorite of mine...and of course Barney - sheesh! How cool!
Wes: Oh if only we still had 1972 India prices!!!
Fuzzy
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Author: tictactux ★2017
Date: 2015-12-18 03:39
> Oh if only we still had 1972 India prices!!!
and 1972 India salaries, accordingly...
If you have a specific need for the Albert (vs Boehm) route, you may want to check for German System basses. However, be sure to be sitting securely when reading the price tag...
--
Ben
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Author: Lelia Loban ★2017
Date: 2015-12-18 20:20
As a fully-addicted flea market, junktiques store and auction junkie, I've never seen an Albert system bass for sale. (I haven't been looking for one, but if I'd ever seen one, I'd remember.) Even the more common, modern, Boehm basses don't come up for sale nearly as often as soprano clarinets.
I think there are two reasons. First, bands and orchestras don't need nearly as many basses as they do sopranos. Second, in the K-12 grades, most kids who switch to bass clarinet use school-owned instruments. With the school instrument available free of charge, a younger student needs to get mighty serious about bass before parents see any need to buy one.
School basses usually get into wrecked condition before the schools will pay to replace them, so a lot of the school basses don't end up in the marketplace, either. Meanwhile, someone who owns a bass clarinet usually has a good reason to buy it and therefore a good reason to keep it. There just aren't a lot of used basses out there.
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: Chris P
Date: 2015-12-18 21:08
If you do ever find a simple system bass, chances are it'll be High Pitch (or HP which is 452+Hz), so only compatible with other HP instruments (and Highland pipes!).
A while back someone posted a photo of a Rudall-Carte simple system bass clarinet in C! So that's a rarity in itself no doubt - it's also HP.
Former oboe finisher
Howarth of London
1998 - 2010
The opinions I express are my own.
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Author: el gitano
Date: 2015-12-18 22:22
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Hi, you can find albert-bass clarinets with luck in the *bay. I´ve seen 3 instruments in the last years. A Buffet, imported by Fischer NY, a german Kohlert and at least a Penzel Müller. I don´t know wether they are LP o HP.
Claus
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