Author: clarnibass
Date: 2022-01-08 11:21
Hi
I'm trying to find someone who plays a small bore Leblanc basset horn or is familiar with them. These are apparently earlier and much less common than the later large bore models. They have an approx 16.1mm bore (the large bore ones are 18mm).
From the little I've been able to find so far, they use a "tweener" mouthpiece, smaller than alto, but maybe larger or at least a specific type of Bb mouthpiece.
I haven't found anyone who plays one, but one person who plays a similar bore old Buffet basset said they are meant to use "a French version of a German basset horn mouthpiece". The socket diameter supports this, being too small to even fit an alto mouthpiece, but a regular French soprano mouthpiece is loose. Fitting the tenon of a regular Bb mouthpiece wouldn't be a problem but apparently it's unlikely to work well with one...
Questions are...
- What problems it could have with a regular French soprano mouthpiece?
- What current made mouthpieces (brands and models) work on these?
- How good this Leblanc basset horn is once in good condition?
This one is in terrible condition, only a couple of the throat notes even play, and even with a small repair it wouldn't be anywhere near a condition that it's possible to assess it.
I'm trying to determine (i.e. help the owner decide) whether it's worth the repair, hopefully to be used for university and/or professional level classical trios, etc.
It looks like a "higher" model than my professional Leblanc alto (swan neck model), but that's mostly cosmetic (elaborate logo and engraving on the bell, seems overall a little better made, etc.). The alto, although a pro model, isn't at the level of current Buffet or Selmer (though they have their problems too) and would be borderline good enough for this type of use, but we have no idea how this basset compares with it.
Thanks
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The Clarinet BBoard
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