Author: William
Date: 2002-04-30 14:47
In 1962, my parents and I made a trip to Elkhart, Ind. to visit the Selmer factory where I picked out a series 9* with the help of Joe Artley (Benny Goodman had visited just a day earlier). Just yesterday, out of curiosity, I pulled that clarinet out of storage and played it beside my LeBlanc Concerto and was amazed at the similarity of "feel" and sound between the two instruments. The 9* is slightly "brighter" tonal presence than my LeBlanc, but not quite so much as my R-13s. Makes me wonder if Tom Ridenour had the Selmer clarinet "in mind" when he designed the Concerto/Opus line of instruments for LeBlanc (???). As stated by others, I remember that the series 9 & 9* were marketed concurrently and that the 9* was meant to compete with the Buffet R-13. Eventually, most of us 1960's college clarinetists who owned Selmers and LeBlancs, switched to R-13s, but I'm glad I didn't trade in my old 9*--it's still a great clarinet!! Hope this info helps a bit. Good Clarineting!!!
BTW--Henry Cuesta (Lawrence Welk jazz clarinetist from Toronto) asked me to help him find an old Selmer BT, which he prefers over all the "modern" instruments. They may have been the inspiration for the design of the series 9. They (old BT's) were, and remain, great jazz clarinets--if you can find one!!
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The Clarinet BBoard
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