 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: A.J.
Date: 2001-08-25 18:02
Hey, does anyone know about SML clarinets? It is a very old wooden clarinet, and it has a really small bore. I found it for less than $50 and it is in great shape. I took it to a music shop and they didn’t know anything about it. Any ideas on age or any information on it?
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Author: mw
Date: 2001-08-25 23:05
SML, Strasser Marigaux & Lemaire --- a French-made student model clarinet. Some are quite decent. Actually, there were 3 lines. Lemaire being the pro line. Ken Shaw wrote about it recently. mw
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Author: mw
Date: 2001-08-25 23:09
Sorry --- I should have said ... if in great shape .... "less than $50" was a very good buy, indeed. The SML clarinet could be worth 3 or 4 times that amount. Ot course, even then, we aren't talking about a fortune. BUT, good value is good value. AND, a Clarinet that plays well can be PRICELESS to it's owner. Best of luck with your (nice) clarinet. mw
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Author: Fred
Date: 2001-08-26 01:48
Mark, I believe the Lemaire was the student line - if it could be said that SML made student horns. Their lowest horn was probably a very good intermediate model. Wasn't the Marigaux their top model, sharing the name of their world-class oboes?
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Author: Hiroshi
Date: 2001-08-27 01:45
The first half of this article seems to be quite in detail about SM's history.
http://www.saxophone.org/sml.html
So, actually there are 4 periods when SML brands were/are sold. 1)all of S, M, L owned the company, 2)S and M owned the company, 3)S owned the company, and 4)the company was sold to a holding company SML.s.a. So different stroy for different period. Unfortunately they do not have serial number vs year records.
Provably your SML may deserve a restoration by a qualified repairman.
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Author: A.J.
Date: 2001-08-27 11:22
The clarinet is in perfect working condition whoever the owner before me was had an overhaul done on it. So it plays perfect and sounds wonderful. I’m just trying to find some good information on it.
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Author: B.F.
Date: 2001-08-27 14:53
I've never understood exactly why the SML (as a whole) has the moniker "student instrument" associated with it. My understanding is that SMLs are professional instruments, like Robert Malernes or other "off-brand" but pro clarinets. I have a Marigaux I really like. Very much like a pre-Series-10 Selmer. Limpid and flexible.
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Author: David Spiegelthal
Date: 2001-08-27 19:54
Of the SMLs, the Marigaux clarinets (and saxes, whether imported directly or marketed by King as some of them were) are excellent, professional instruments. As has been pointed out, there were sometimes lower-grade lines of clarinets from SML; for instance, the Strassers were student-line and the Lemaires were intermediate (I'm pretty sure). And as has been pointed out in another thread, one can find "5-Star"clarinets from SML out there, which we are speculating may have been their professional clarinets before the "Marigaux" line was produced. As for Robert Malerne, his company produced student as well as professional instruments, so one can't automatically assume that any SML product, or any Malerne product, is necessarily a professional-grade instrument. But one thing I'll say, in my limited experience, I've never run across a bad instrument from either company, whether student, intermediate, or professional-grade.
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