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Re: Selmer 10 G series

Author: Bob Bernardo
Date: 2019-02-14 16:01

Well the facts are close and the dates are mixed up a tad. For example Moennig died in the early 80's I think. I studied with him for about a year in the late 70's. At this time Tony Gigliotti was playing on 10's. But not 10G's. He usually did his own work from what his students said. I never met him.

I know Buffet was trying to make a Selmer copy and this was pretty much the end of the great 1960's horns and early 70's R13 bores. Buffet actually put that much trust in one man. So crazy.

I can see Hans Moennig livid I saw him explode at people and tell them to never come back. He didn't hold back his anger at all. I don't care if you were the president of the USA, Hans said what was on his mind. Yet he was a small man, about 5'6 and weighed in around 130 pounds and hunched over. But I was long gone teaching college for a year, then the DC Air Force, and finally went to Rico.

What players now don't really know is how gifted this man was. His clarinet sound wasn't too good, but his ear was. Some may say he had perfect pitch because when he tuned up a horn the low notes to the high notes were dead on. No metronome was used. No dead notes, every note was so clean, crisp, and clear. To this day this is why I use cork pads. I want that clean, crisp, sound.

Moennig was no dummy. If this story was true about the electrical tape Hans very well knew Tony played on Selmers. Perhaps Tony said it was a new Buffet prototype. Something stinks or is fishy here. I can promise you that Hans is no fool and within a very short time of playing the horn or even just looking at the key work, Hans knew it wasn't a Buffet. He was simply a Master. You can't fool a master. The best in the world or at least the best in the country.

When testing a clarinet his repair room was pretty large, no carpet, but he would always stand in this one spot, the right corner as you walked into the room. This was where he could hear best. Every horn was tested at this same spot. This was where his radio was playing classical music all day. Maybe he would use the music as a background for tuning and projection. I'm not sure; I actually just thought of it as I write this.

My guess is probably around 1976 or so was when the 10G came out. Buffet changed their bores I think in 1974. This date is very close, probably within 1 year or so. When teaching at York College I stopped by to say hello to him and smoke a couple bowls of pipe. He expressed his anger about the new bores and was designing shorter reverse tapered Moennig barrels. He was also making new reamers and undercutting tooling.

Surprisingly it, the 10G, is not the most valued 10 series players look for who love the 10 series. So both companies kind of screwed up. The 10G was not that great and Buffet wrecked the R13 forever.

Sorry this is so long, but I think the history of Buffet and the 10 Series should be kept alive and accurate because these clarinets completely changed for the worse as well as the sound quality of the clarinets.

Fellow clarinets may be confident to giving us the very exact dates but I know I'm close. Perhaps there isn't an exact date on the 10G.

A hidden secret Buffet dumped was the S1. Ths was an expanded reverse taper
kinda like what Hans did with the barrels but Buffet did it with the upper joint.

If some of you want backup Buffets take a serious look at the late 1970's S1. It was only made for 3 years. You may be able to fine one on ebay that's had very little use and selling for much less than R13's. Buffet should have kept making these. Even Hans loved the sound. Well it's 4AM time for sleep. Hope I dream of someone playing Beethoven's 5th from the last page, the 4th movement to the opening. I must be tired to say that!

Designer of - Vintage 1940 Cicero Mouthpieces and the La Vecchia mouthpieces

Yamaha Artist 2015

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Selmer 10 G series new

Jim70

2019-02-11 07:33