 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: Warren
Date: 2002-07-13 06:26
I found and bought a wood clarinet today and was curious if anyone can give me an educated guess at its vintage.
It is a D. Noblet Paris clarinet. It has "Made in France" etched about 1/4 of an inch below the cork on the first joint, then the logo. The logo has a lyre over the top of a dashed oval, and has "D. NOBLET PARIS" inside. Immediately below the logo is a D stamped over a long, narrow N. All letters are caps. The serial number, which appears on the back of the first joint and second joint, is 3242. The logo also appears on the barrel and the bell.
The key system is Boehm. The keys appear to me to be plated, as I can see some discoloration from wear.
I intend to have this instrument reconditioned and use it, as I like the sound of it, but my searching on the web did not turn up any Leblanc serial numbers. I was hoping someone here might own a similar horn and have a sense of the approximate age. Thanks!
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Author: Bob
Date: 2002-07-13 11:33
Warren, saw that one too but didn't know the significance of the "D"..
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Author: jbutler
Date: 2002-07-13 12:24
You've got an older Noblet. I had one similar in for overhaul. The keys were not plated and the case was rather "art deco". I would place it not any later than the 40's. It had a rather large bore and sounded fairly decent.
<a href="http://www.cork-and-pad.woodwind.org">jbutler</a>
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Author: DougR
Date: 2002-07-13 12:59
That sounds like my high school horn you're talking about--bought in '57 new for $189.50, same markings but serial # 6XXXD. Still have it, and it's not bad for a student horn. The keys are plated, except with wear on the touch-spots. Mine came in a case with a Leblanc nameplate on it, and I saw an identical instrument on Ebay not long ago. I'm not sure how the serial numbers ran, or if the instrument was MADE by Leblanc or just badge-engineered by Leblanc--I know Noblet was a separate entity at one time, but not sure exactly when the Leblanc-Noblet "synergy" happened. Hope someone else can help.
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Author: Warren
Date: 2002-07-13 15:52
Thanks for all your posts. I thought it was older than the 50's. I read somewhere that the "D." in front of the Noblet made it likely an older one as they dropped this on later models. I've cleaned a couple of keys now and it does not appear to be plated after all. What I thought was wear was just a yellowish patina of some sort of crud.
Other details: it has offset trill keys on the first joint and it is in a rather slim case which has a yellow tweedy fabric, leather covered handle and is contoured at the bell end to accomodate the bell. I realize the case could have nothing to do with the age but I found it interesting.
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Author: Dee
Date: 2002-07-13 16:16
If you check out the Leblanc website, you can get the history of the company. There you will find that the company's name was originally Noblet but around 1900 or so, the Mr. Noblet running the company passed it on to Mr. Leblanc as the former had no heirs. Sometime after Mr. Leblanc inherited it, the company name was changed to Leblanc and Noblet continued to be used on one of their lines of clarinets.
i.e. Noblet and Leblanc were one and the same. Just different names at different times.
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Author: Bob
Date: 2002-07-13 17:12
Warren..the first wood clarinet I ever owned had the bell contour at one end of the case..and..the case only accomodated "2 pieces of clarinet". One piece with mouthpiece,barrel and top section attached and the other piece with the bell attached to the lower joint. Plus the faux alligator case exterior.
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Author: Doug Ramsdell
Date: 2002-07-15 02:50
I now have in front of me the horn I mentioned above--the s/n is 8xxxD, not 6xxxD as I claimed. Yours could conceivably go back a decade or more before that...also, now that I'm looking at the instrument, the markings on it aren't precisely as you describe, but still close. Also, the only thing that says "Leblanc" is the case, which is by now ratty & falling apart. Well, it got me into All State Band (it and the Penzel-Mueller "George Jenney signature" mouthpiece I still have for it.)
Anyhow, again, good luck with it!
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