 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: jcm499
Date: 2020-05-02 23:14
For context, I played pretty seriously in high school and college, and around that time everyone was raving about the Leblanc Opus, or maybe Opus II. It was the big fad. There was a Leblanc Pete Fountain model, they teamed up with Julian Bliss, and they were one of the “big four” with Buffet, Selmer, and Yamaha. After college, continued to play on my own, but stopped keeping up with communal developments. Recently, I came across a video on YouTube from a recent conservatory graduate who mentioned she had never played a Leblanc because she wasn’t “from that generation.” I immediately turned into a skeleton and crumbled into dust, and when I recovered, I looked around the internet to discover that in the span of a few short years, Leblanc has … more or less disappeared. What happened?
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Author: Steven Ocone
Date: 2020-05-03 00:09
Like Selmer, there were two separate Leblanc companies, a French company and and American company. The American company produced student models and distributed the French models. How this came to be is a great story I won't tell here.
To make a long long story very short. The French company had a fire but more or less recovered. It was a family business with close ties to the family that ran the American business. There was no family left to take over the French business and they decided to offer it to the American company. They had to get special permission from the French government to do this.
The American company was financially stressed. The founder of the American company passed away and I don't think his son wasn't really interested in running it. Instead, the company was sold to Selmer USA (now Selmer USA was making Leblanc professional clarinets and distributing Selmer Paris clarinets).
My understanding is that Selmer had given assurances that the American and French factories would be kept open. Never, ever, trust Selmer USA. I think the French factory was closed, but after a while Buffet bought it to produce intermediate clarinets (at least the bodies). The US factories were closed as well.
I think this is more or less correct – it is from memory.
Steve Ocone
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Author: Paul Aviles
Date: 2020-05-03 00:24
Also, the lauding of the Opus may be better in the retelling.
My favorite story about those (the upgrade from the Concerto which was perhaps a better horn) is that when introduced, the members of the US Army Band thought they hung the moon when they tried them at a clarinet show. They bought the entire section Opus clarinets but soon found out the keys were rather soft and they went out of regulation rather quickly. The band dumped them and bought new substitutes a year later (not sure but I think they went back to Buffets).
..............Paul Aviles
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Author: ruben
Date: 2020-05-03 12:33
Steven: every one of your facts is correct. Léon Leblanc sold his company to his American associate, Vito, who had-I believe- been a trombonist with the Glen Miller band. Quite a few new models of clarinets were designed (mostly by Ridenour) and came out after the Vito take-over, and were sold quite successfully in the US. All professional models were made in France. Léon retired at 90 and died at almost a hundred (married for the first time at 97!). The last professional clarinet that came out while he was still running the company was the XL: not a bad instrument. Unfortunately, Léon was not really aware of the new taste in tone of the younger generation of clarinetists. As you so rightly said, Vito's son was not particularly interested in music or the company, so the life of the company drew to a close after the death of Vito. I sometimes drive by the old Leblanc factories, not without nostalgia.
rubengreenbergparisfrance@gmail.com
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Author: NOLA Ken
Date: 2020-05-03 17:23
Another funny story about young(er) people and Leblancs. I once took my 1967 Leblanc Classic II to a young instrument tech to get a key adjustment. I would guess she was in her late 20s or early 30s. She told me that for the longest period of time even after her graduation from tech training she did not know that Leblanc had ever produced professional level clarinets. Sort of solidified my identity as an old fart.
It was fifty years after receiving that instrument that I finally learned that it was one of the ones that had been rebored. Explains why I could never get a satifying sound out of it. I have several fine French Leblancs with original bores, and even the French VSP plays better than that Classic II. Leblanc USA didn't do the Leblanc reputation any favors.
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Author: kdk
Date: 2020-05-03 17:32
ruben wrote:
> I sometimes drive by the old Leblanc factories, not without
> nostalgia.
>
What's in them now?
Karl
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Author: r small
Date: 2020-05-03 19:59
I had an LX and an LL (with 3/4 Boehm keywork) for about 20 years. Both were very good instruments. Sadly I sold off the Leblancs and most of my other horns several years ago as I wasn't playing any more. Then about a year ago I decided to join a local community band and get back into playing. But my irreplaceable Leblancs were long gone. I've never liked Buffets so I bought a Selmer Presence that I'm pretty happy with. But I'll always have a soft spot for those Leblancs. It was a sad day when Leblanc got absorbed into the mediocre instrument mill. I still have a Leblanc catalogue from about 1996 that shows an impressive array of French made clarinets from the venerable LL to the Tom Ridenour designed Opus and Concerto models. Also the wide bore Pete Fountain model and a number of optional keywork models such as full Boehm.
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Author: ruben
Date: 2020-05-03 20:34
I think it's just an empty shell. I'll check. It's in La Couture-Boussey, where woodwinds were made for hundreds of years, possibly because there was a lot of boxwood that grew in the area (the fringes of Normandy). There's still a musical instrument museum there that can be visited on appointment. It was created by Léon Leblanc. Boussey is actually just a slightly overgrown village.
rubengreenbergparisfrance@gmail.com
Post Edited (2020-05-03 20:36)
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Author: jeig
Date: 2020-05-03 22:38
Leblanc had an affiliation with Backun not long before going out of business. Was that at all connected to the demise of Leblanc?
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Author: Djudy
Date: 2020-05-04 12:46
Thank you all, I just love posts like this ! Making sure real history, the 'lived' kind gets passed down to the young. Keep up the good work !
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Author: Nelson
Date: 2020-05-04 15:03
Hi I'm not a regular contributor, and this subject may have been covered many times before, but when I saw the 'Rebore' subject I thought I'd take the opportunity to maybe learn more about this. Can anyone tell me exactly what the full story is about the practice of re-boring Leblancs as they entered the US? I recently bought a pair of 1960s 'LL' Leblancs on Ebay this after many years playing English wide bore and the LLs are every bit as good as I remember from all those years ago. All I know about the re-boring tale is that... it may well have happened (it has also been denied), and Tom Ridenour stopped it when he joined the company. Does anyone know how long this went on for....or why? My newly acquired pair tune pretty well so why should someone in power who should know better choose to seriously mess them up. Apologies for digging up an old story but as an admirer of Leblancs it would be good to know
Cheers
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Author: Tony F
Date: 2020-05-04 15:26
I had a lovely old LL some years ago. I loaned it to a friend(?) who had a gig and no working clarinet. Never saw it or him again. I've never come across a rebored Leblanc, although I've heard a lot about them from friends in the US. The problem never got to us here in Oz.
Tony F.
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Author: seabreeze
Date: 2020-05-04 17:57
Though Leblanc never attracted the following that Buffet and Selmer have had, many excellent "name" players used them during significant periods in their careers, including Buddy DeFranco, Jimmy Hamilton, Pete Fountain, and Eddie Daniels in Jazz, and Aage Oxenvad, Henri Druart, Alain Damiens, Earl Bates, and Larry Combs in classical music.
Post Edited (2020-05-04 18:02)
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Author: Mojo
Date: 2020-05-04 18:14
I play on a Leblanc Symphonie II that I had John Butler overhaul a couple of years ago. It dates to 1958.
MojoMP.com
Mojo Mouthpiece Work LLC
MojoMouthpieceWork@yahoo.com
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Author: ruben
Date: 2020-05-04 19:21
Seabreeze: I owned Jimmy Hamilton's Leblanc LL until two years ago, at which time I gave it to an Italian jazz musician living in London. Jimmy Hamilton switched to Selmer series 9* at the end of his career with the Duke.
rubengreenbergparisfrance@gmail.com
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Author: ruben
Date: 2020-05-04 23:11
Speaking of Leblanc, I recall they made a pretty decent mouthpiece. I believe it was called the L4 and was the stock mouthpiece that came with their professional model clarinets. I would also like to add that Léon Leblanc, its owner and CEO, could make a clarinet from A to Z. I don't think the president of the investment funds that run companies these days could manage that.
rubengreenbergparisfrance@gmail.com
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Author: clarnibass
Date: 2020-05-05 07:41
>> ...turned into a skeleton and crumbled into dust... <<
>> I would guess she was in her late 20s or early 30s. She told me that for the longest period of time even after her graduation from tech training she did not know that Leblanc had ever produced professional level clarinets. Sort of solidified my identity as an old fart. <<
I'm not much beyond early 30s now... and I've always known Leblanc as a major professional clarinet maker, before everything changed and disappeared. I was about to get my first professional clarinet (about 25 years ago) and my teacher back then recommended Buffet or Leblanc. Her best student at the time played a Leblanc.
Then about a decade later at music university the head of the university was playing Leblanc clarinets, and also one of the other students (Opus and Concerto).
So it's not THAT long ago
I still see them occasionally...
Post Edited (2020-05-05 09:04)
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Author: Paul Aviles
Date: 2020-05-05 08:34
Lest we forget, Elmer Aiello (one of the true masters of clarinet mouthpiece makers) worked for Leblanc. He was the fellow behind the Larry Combs and Robert Marcellus models.
I still have a Larry Combs LC1 that works great.
.............Paul Aviles
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Author: ruben
Date: 2020-05-05 15:39
Dear Johan, I didn't know that! I'll check out those vintage cars if ever I'm around there, but won't buy any. Léon Leblanc's big house was next-door to the factory, if I remember correctly.
rubengreenbergparisfrance@gmail.com
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Author: Johan H Nilsson
Date: 2020-05-06 00:13
I was there in the summer of 2015 and met the owner just as he left the parking in his car. He offered me to show the building the next day, but I was on my way home, and there is nothing of the woodwind business left inside anyway.
The museum in the town is worth a visit. Many Leblanc instrument are on display, for instance one of only three (I believe) octo-contrabasses that ever existed.
La Couture-Boussey was the center of the woodwind industry in France, just as Elkhart in the US but for much longer.
Museum: https://www.facebook.com/MuseeMiv/
Post Edited (2020-05-06 13:12)
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Author: Johan H Nilsson
Date: 2020-05-06 00:23
Nelson, I have yet to see evidence for the 'rebore' theory. It doesn't make sense to finish an instrument in France, ship it to the US, disassemble it and rework it there. Moreover, Leblanc produced the Pete Fountain model for the big bore enthusiasts.
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Author: ruben
Date: 2020-05-06 13:42
Johan, Leblanc had what I think was its headquarters on rue des Pyrenées, Paris 20 arrond. It is now an old people's home.
rubengreenbergparisfrance@gmail.com
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Author: JulianBliss
Date: 2020-05-06 17:14
Hi Everyone
I saw this thread and thought I should post. Somewhat to give some information but to also dispel some of the mis-information out there of which there seems to be a-lot.
Leblanc is very much alive and well! As many of you have stated Leblanc is owned by Conn-Selmer which also distributes Selmer-Paris Clarinets in the USA. We make a range of instruments including the Vito, Serenade along with harmony clarinets. We manufacture in Elkhart, Indiana which is where the Conn-Selmer corporate office is along with the Bach factory.
We are constantly working hard on advancements and updating the instruments and are always working on new projects and instrument development. I have worked with Leblanc/Conn-Selmer for about 14 years or so. It is a great company to be a part of with some fantastic people and great instruments.
Thanks
Julian
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Author: ruben
Date: 2020-05-06 18:32
Julian; thank you for posting and you've given us a piece of good news. Manufactured in Elkhart, Indiana rather than China?
rubengreenbergparisfrance@gmail.com
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