 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: Ken Gregory
Date: 2018-08-20 22:03
Hi from Ken. 25 years ago I acquired an orchestral pair of wood clarinets at an antique mall in So. California. The A clarinet is a Godfroy Aine with A LP on the upper and lower sections. The B flat is a C. Jeuffroy with no markings. Both clarinets are in mint condition including pads and corks. The case is a French style (black) much like the one my 1953 Buffet came in. Both have Southern California Music Co. on the bell. 2 unlabeled mouthpieces. When I bought the set I assumed they were built around 1950 . From discussions on these pages it appears that the markings LP on clarinets did not extend much beyond 1930. I would like to know if Godfroy continued to include LP on clarinets after 1930. I have since acquired two more clarinets:1. a Godfroy B flat with a B LP on the lower section. It came with a Selmer mouthpiece. It has old pads and corks but is still air tight. The case is black plastic; 2. a C Jeuffroy with LP B on the bell, a Penzel-Mueller barrel, a Perfectone mouth piece and older pads and cork. The case is brown vinyl with stitched red leather strips on the ends. It has a wrap around register key, and dull keywork. Both these latter clarinets have Southern California Music Co. stamped on the bell below the logo. I would like to find out approximately when the orchestral pair and the latter two clarinets were made. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
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Author: TrueTone
Date: 2018-08-20 23:36
Some pictures would be nice-are these Boehm or something else like Albert? I would think they all would probably be from the early part of the 20th century. (I'd assume Boehm based on your post, but worth asking.)
For your Godfroys-do they look like this one?
http://www.clarinetpages.net/vintage-odd-brands/godfroy
The single post for the F#/C# and B/E keys dates that one as definitely pre-ww2, and probably from before the mid 30s. (There's a boxwood Godfroy clarinet I've seen for sale on the internet, so your clarinets definitely can be rather old.)
C Jeuffroy was a house brand of some kind from a music store in paris, according to what I've read-I've seen some made by a few different manufacturers, the most commonly referenced one I've seen on the internet us Noblet, but I've seen a metal one that was a stencil of a Bettoney. They also sold saxes from Pierret in the first half of the 20th century.
The latest instrument I recall seeing with a marking for pitch was a Conn high pitch alto saxophone from the 1940s, owned by someone in Australia, so your clarinets are probably from before then, unless they still kept marking L.P. after H.P. became very rare to see.
Your wraparound register Jeuffroy is probably the oldest-most of the wraparounds I've seen are from the 2 decades before and after 1900.
Post Edited (2018-08-20 23:38)
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Author: Ken Gregory
Date: 2018-08-21 01:49
Hi from Ken Gregory. The clarinets are all Boehm system clarinets. If the orchestral pair date from before the 1930s and were placed in a later case then they are in extremely good condition considering their age. They were playable when I bought them and their condition has not changed since then. I am waiting for the Southern California Music Co. to get its website up and functioning to see if they have any records on the sale of musical instruments going back into the 20s and 30s (They were founded in 1880) and have been in business ever since. I saw a reference to a going out of business sale recently but they still sell pianos at their current address in Glendale, CA. I'll try and post some photos of the clarinets. Thanks
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