 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: Bob Rausch
Date: 2001-10-09 12:49
I recently acquired a rosewood clarinet in an auction. The seller says its rosewood, and 2 different music shops have told me its rosewood. The question I have is there some way to tell what its made of ? Its an older model Selmer Horn, but the serial number is not fully visible.
Many people have told me rosewood clarinets are something special and rare to find ? Is this true ? In all my years of playing I have never played a rosewood clarinet.
Any ideas ?
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Author: jmcaulay
Date: 2001-10-09 14:11
Rosewood is not nearly as dense as African blackwood. So weigh your clarinet and compare its weight with that of one known to be ebony/grenadilla/blackwood. Any differences in the weight of the keywork should be negligible relative to the difference between the weights of rosewood and grenadilla. If the supposed rosewood instrument weighs quite a bit less than the other one, then it may indeed be rosewood. For that matter it could be maple, except I'm pretty sure Selmer never made a maple clarinet. At least you'll know it is not grenadilla.
Unfortunately, most wood densities vary considerably, hence it's impractical to use density as an absolute standard for determining which wood species it is. But perhaps a comparison will tell you all you want to know.
Regards,
John
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Author: jmcaulay
Date: 2001-10-09 14:17
Sorry, Bob. I forgot to mention that clarinets in rosewood can be bought, but they generally cost more than those in blackwood. Patricola (sneezy sponsor) rosewood clarinets look very nice (not dyed black), they are more expensive, and they are several ounces lighter.
Hope you enjoy your "new" instrument.
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Author: Dee
Date: 2001-10-09 15:40
However if you try the weight test, be careful of variations that may be due simply to wall thickness. Some brands and models are made with very thick walls and others with thin walls.
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Author: Kathy Beatty
Date: 2001-10-09 17:54
Bob,
It sounds like you probably really got a rosewood clarinet, since that's been corroborated by 2 independent sources. However, I've noticed that many sellers on eBay (and, I assume, other auction sites) who claim an instrument is rosewood are really mistakenly confusing blackwood for rosewood. My guess is it's just a case of ignorance on the sellers' parts, rather than them trying to palm off blackwood instruments as rosewood for a better price.
Kathy
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Author: Hiroshi
Date: 2001-10-10 06:29
This is rose wood clarinet outlook.http://www.rossiclarinet.cl/index_ingles.html
Another wood choice other than grenadilla or rose wood is cocoboro.
How it looks, I do not know.
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Author: Brenda Siewert
Date: 2001-10-10 15:06
I owned the rosewood Leblanc Symphonie VII for a short time before making the terrible mistake of selling it :( It was a beautiful instrument with a very sweet tone. My only complaint about it was the difficulty in getting the volume I wanted from it. Otherwise it was an angel to play and I really, really regret selling it.
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Author: jmcaulay
Date: 2001-10-10 18:17
Brenda, I'll try to remember your comments about that specific instrument in case I ever come across one for sale. Come to think of it, I can't recall ever having heard anyone say, "Boy, am I glad I sold that Leblanc!"
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Author: David Spiegelthal
Date: 2001-10-10 20:35
John,
Just for you: "Boy, am I glad I sold that Leblanc model 400 bass clarinet I used to play years ago!". There, I said it.
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Author: Brenda Siewert
Date: 2001-10-11 17:14
Well, it depends upon which Leblanc we're talking about. There are dogs---like the one David S. mentioned. But, there are also some great 400 bass clarinets out there.
My Symphonie VII was only 6 mos old and I really lost a ton of money off that sale. But, I had bought some for some students and needed to pay for them and had to sacrifice my own personal one that I didn't use very much. The rosewood clarinet didn't get used that much. But ouch, ouch, ouch!!! I am still in pain from it. Aside from that, I sold it to a very rude individual and the memory still stings.
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Author: David dow Sympony NB
Date: 2002-04-26 16:16
My Buffet A is rosewood and man it is truly wonderful it seems that you can order them on request from Buffet for about a couple of hundred dollars extrra or so.
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