 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: Scott Miller
Date: 2002-04-30 11:16
I have an instrument called a Saxonette. Tuning is E-flat, and it looks like a miniature alto clarinet (angled brass neck and curved bell) Body is wood. The brand is Gretsch, there is no serial number. I contacted Gretsch, but they had been out of business for several years, and have retained few old records. I did find out that they historically contracted with LeBlanc, Paris to build their "regular" clarinets. I had the instrument rebuilt and the technician confirmed that the workmanship appeared to be French. A Swedish composer has a piece composed for the instrument. That is all the information that I have been able to find on this horn. I would certainly appreciate hearing from anyone who can shine some light into the corners here. Thanks.
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Author: Robert Small
Date: 2002-04-30 16:12
This is the first I've heard of this instrument but it sounds interesting. I wonder if there's any way you could post a picture of it.
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Author: Don Berger
Date: 2002-04-30 16:20
Hi Scott - Welcome to our clarinet BBoard, {is this your first time?}. Many of us are sax players also, and I hope some may have more info than I. I recall the "Saxello" [trademarked] and one is pictured on www.cybersax.com [my most knowledgable saxophone friend, Barry Wilson, in Coweta, OK]. Its a soprano sax "variant", metal, somewhat curved, conical [is your Saxonette conical or {nearly}cylindrical?, thats the basic diff. from clarinets]. Also [if quite small] might it be the Eb [C or D] SOPRANO Sax variant?? "Bear", I'm sure would be glad to help, and would know of other sax-collectors and sites. I've looked in the Baines, Brymer and Curt Sachs books and found no mention of our Sax---'s. I suggest looking in Groves Dictionary--- [I will at our library], and possibly your library, maybe Amazon and B&N will have technical books on saxes. Interesting "pursuit" , luck, Don
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Author: Don Berger
Date: 2002-04-30 17:19
Other thoughts, just below on our BBoard, under "We are Family" [TKS,Diz] is the link to the French [dictionary may be needed] antique inst site, where I briefly found tenor saxes. It has catalog info also [is your maker's name {or city, Elkhart?=likely Conn?} on the horn??]. Another source of info is the "Shrine to Music" site, museum in Vermillion, S D, Debbi Reeves gave me a tour and help. Others, please help. Don
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Author: William
Date: 2002-04-30 17:45
No big important info to offer regarding the Saxello, but just wanted to add that there is a local jazz artist that uses the instrument quite exclusively on gigs--and it sounds great. He likes it because the bell is easy to mike. I believe he found it at our local Buy and Sell emporium. Have fun--Good Saxelloing!!!!
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Author: Wes
Date: 2002-04-30 23:57
There was a wood instrument sold on ebay a while back that had a curved bell and appeared to be a type of clarinet. Perhaps it was an Eb clarinet with a curved bell added. I have a metal Boehm clarinet with a curved bell made by Buescher. It was called a "clariphone" by A. Rice. Good luck!
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Author: Scott Miller
Date: 2002-05-01 10:10
I do have pictures, but unfortunately they are stored on a hard drive that isn't reporting right now. If I get a chance to reclaim them (the drive does report about 5% of the time) I'll post. BTW, what is he protocol for posting an image here?
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Author: Scott Miller
Date: 2002-05-01 10:26
Saxonette is cylindrical. The clarinet genes are clearly dominant:) If you shrunk a typical alto clarinet to E-flat (Sopranino?) size, you'd pretty much have it. The proprietor of the music shop that brokered the repair has been in the business for over 25 years, in NYC, San Fran, and Philly, and he had never seen or heard of one. "Bizarre" was his precise reaction. He did say that in the first half of the 20th century, big bands would sometimes commission a very small run of specialized instruments for their proprietary use. The man who actually refurbished the horn, Harry ?, said that he had seen a couple of these before. OTOH, Harry is in his mid-90's and has been continuously repairing woodwinds for about 70 years... I'm a (former) sax player only, and am in a quandry trying to figure out the fingering scheme on this puppy. It isn't Boehme, but so far as I can tell, it isn't quite Albert or Oehler, either. The question is, which one is it a variation on;?)
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Author: Scott Miller
Date: 2002-05-01 10:31
No city shown. It's just branded "Gretsch", but Gretsch farmed out all of their woodwinds to other makers. According to Gretsch the younger, their clarinets were usually made by LeBlanc in France. He was unable to supply further details because the company was out of business for several years, during which many of their records were mislaid.
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Author: Scott Miller
Date: 2002-05-01 10:35
Hmmm. E-Bay must be rolling their old database transactions over pretty quickly these days - I couldn't find this in their archives. The only "clariphone" reference to an instrument that I found in a Google search was to a banjo line of that name by guess who? Gretsch. An interesting coincidence.
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Author: Robert Small
Date: 2002-05-01 16:02
I would like to see one of the big manufacturers offer a Bb soprano with a curved barrel or crook and an upturned bell like an alto or a forward facing bell like a saxello. The upturned or forward facing bell would make it easier to mike (as was noted above) and the curved barrel or crook would make it more comfortable to play using a neckstrap. Plus it would be an unusual looking (but sharp looking in my opinion) little horn.
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Author: Robert Small
Date: 2002-05-01 16:28
And one more thing--give it an extended range to low C like a basset.
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Author: Don Berger
Date: 2002-05-01 16:47
Al Rice -We need your help in identifying this interesting [we think its a] clarinet [hybrid?]. R S - an intriguing idea. Scott - how many keys? and does it have a "register" key and respond with the "twelth"? Since Gretsch may have been a late 1800-early 1900 mfgrr, I would hazard a guess that Saxonette is a [trade-name] combo. of SAXello [for shape] and clariONETTE [for its intonation]. Maybe similarily re: "clariphone"? Ask Mark C about giving us a pic. It might be possible to get some help from the Bate Museum in Oxford, GB, as I remember they had many cases full of clarinets etc, if I can find my info I'll look further. Fun, aint it! Don
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Author: Scott Miller
Date: 2002-05-01 23:51
I sent a series of JPEG images to Erik Ahlgren (The Clarinet Family) back in January at his request. For some reason they haven't appeared on his pages. I'll e-mail him to see if he is willing to e-mail copies back to me (heck of a way to back-up my data:) In this case, a picture probably _is_ worth 1k words...
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Author: Scott Miller
Date: 2002-05-06 10:40
OK, I have my pictures back. 5 images averaging about 750KB each. I expect that this forum does not accept images, and I don't have my own web page to post these just now. Suggestions (IOW, now what)?
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