 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: Tankie1rtr
Date: 2022-09-09 17:55
Hi All.
I have just bought a 1952 B&H Emperor in lovely condition, I have never played the Emperor before, I am not a serious musician and for the last 35 yrs I have just played on a Selmer Signet Special, wood and immaculate, I dont know why I bought the Emperor, I just saw it advertised for £95, so got it, took it straight to my workshop and stripped it all down, cleaned the wood, Oiled the bore, gentle emery on all the screws and oiled, so now it looks lovely, Not played it yet. I saw a post on a site that said the Emperor is a fantastic Clarinet and is on par with an E13, can anybody please confirm this, also is the Emperor worth keeping on sell it on. Thanks all.
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Author: Tony F
Date: 2022-09-09 20:12
The Emperor was B & H's entry-level professional instrument. In its day it was a decent instrument, although it did have some tuning issues. These can be minimised by careful attention to venting. Considering that the Emperor has not been made since 1984 and the E13 is a more recent instrument it is probably fair to say that the E13 will have benefitted from acoustic development that has occurred in recent times.
The E13 would probably be the better instrument, all things being equal. Buffet have had more than their share of quality problems for some years now, and I personally know of a couple of E13's and several R13's that have had cracking problems. The wood used on the B&H instruments was generally excellent and I personally have never had one crack.
If you're going to be playing for your own pleasure or at a school or community band level the Emperor would probably serve you well, but if you plan to advance beyond this level the E13 might be a better choice as long as you have a good one.
As the Emperor was made in Britain they do not command high prices in the US. I think they are seriously under-rated, but this can make them an attractive buy.
Tony F.
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Author: Tankie1rtr
Date: 2022-09-09 20:53
Hi Tony.
Thank you for your reply, at 70 yrs old i will just be playing for my own amazement lol, I just bought the Emperor on a whim, I just wanted something different than my Selmer Signet. I suppose I have a thing for Wooden Clarinets.
J.
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Author: Chris P
Date: 2022-09-10 04:51
Your standard B&H hierarchy in the UK from the mid/late '60s through to the mid '80s from beginner to pro level was as follows:
Regent - entry level plastic body Bb clarinet with nickel plated keys. Equivalent to a Buffet B12.
Edgware - entry level wooden body Bb and A clarinets with nickel plated keys (in essence a wooden Regent). Equivalent to a Buffet E11.
Emperor - intermediate level wooden body Bb and A clarinets, silver plated keys (in essence an Edgware with silver plated keys) and scalloped socket rings. Equivalent to a later Buffet E11 with silver plated keys.
Imperial 926 - pro wooden body Bb/A clarinets (also available in Eb and bass as well as full Boehm Bb and possibly A), silver plated keys with smooth socket rings. Popular with military bands. Equivalent to a Buffet R13/RC
Symphony 1010 - large bore Bb/A clarinets, integral wooden tonehole chimneys, no metal tenon rings, smooth socket rings, Gordon Beeson leather pads, different length bells for both A and Bb, fat barrels, different keywork/linkages and pieces on several keys (eg. crows foot replaced with an arm and adjusting screw on the RH E/B and a sliding linkage on the RH F#/C# key to connect them to the F/C key), plastic bushed C#/G# tonehole, keywork mounted on rod screws throughout and the Acton vent became standard equipment to 'unfork' B/F#/altissimo Eb with the xxx|oxo/oxx|oxo fingering. Equivalent to a Buffet Prestige.
There were also some machined PVC Edgwares with inset ebonite tonehole chimneys), bakelite-bodied Emperors (essentially Regents with silver plated keywork and fittings) and ebonite-bodied 926s and 1010s in this time.
Earlier Emperors and Edgwares from the '50s were near identical instruments as each other as only the logos were different from what I can tell - everything else was the same on them besides the logos. I've got a '50s ebonite Edgware and all the keywork on that is mounted on rod screws, just as it was on '50s Imperial 926s as well as 1010s right up to the end of their production in the mid '80s. All other B&H clarinets besides the 1010 from the late '50s onwards had pivot screws (the parallel-sided ones as opposed to point screws with tapered tips) for the keys with long rods.
Former oboe finisher
Howarth of London
1998 - 2010
The opinions I express are my own.
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Author: Tony F
Date: 2022-09-10 19:09
My understanding of the differences between the Edgware and the Emperor were in the fit and finish and in the final tuning. Other than that, apart from the body rings they are mechanically identical. I have a couple of Edgwares, Emperors in wood and hard rubber, Imperials in wood and hard rubber and a 1010. The quality of finish of the keywork is visibly better on the Emperor and Imperial. I nominated the Emperor as entry-level professional because it was often the instrument of the rank and file players in military bands, whereas the principals got Imperials.
Tony F.
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Author: graham
Date: 2022-09-10 21:21
Worth a warning that later (e.g. mid 70s onwards) Emperors did not have good wood and the keywork was sloppy. These were also often sharp. Nice sound though.
graham
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Author: Chris P
Date: 2022-09-11 02:53
And from the mid to late '60s onwards, the pads were all glued in with Evo-Stik (the old formula of their contact adhesive containing toluene) so they couldn't be adjusted, right across the range from the plastic Regent with skin pads right up to the 1010 with its leather pads. Likewise with their oboes. And they used natural cork EVERYWHERE on the keywork.
It's nice to be given the opportunity to fully refinish any B&H clarinet from the Regent all the way up to the 1010 and do it with far more attention to detail as well as much higher quality materials (pads, key corks/felts, better adjusting screws, etc) to bring them up to far better playing condition than when they originally left the factory. Then again, the same can be said with ALL Buffets and other big name clarinets that only get minimum bench time during finishing to pass quality control.
Former oboe finisher
Howarth of London
1998 - 2010
The opinions I express are my own.
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