 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: jim lande
Date: 2002-08-03 16:44
Back in 1999, Dick Day posted
" HAVE A SOLID SILVER CLARINET WITH THE LABEL "PAUL DUPRE CONSERVATOIRE PARIS FRANCE" ON IT. NO SERIAL NUMBER. IT CAME IN ITS ORIGINAL FORMED CASE, AND IT BREAKS DOWN INTO ALL 4 SECTIONS JUST LIKE ANY WOOD CLARINET, .... GOLD WASH INSIDE THE BELL... PLAYS WITH AN ALMOST FLUTE LIKE TONE. "
Aside from name, Dick found LETTER "F" AND A SMALL "5" on the instrument
Dick asked if anyone had any information and Mark quoted from New Langwell:
Dupre, Paul WWI fl Paris, 20c.
1952 advertised as 'a name of distinction for more than 50 years.'
A few folks had seen wooden models that appeared to be intermediate quality.
Taxijazz offered a similar/same model on eBay last spring and I wrote to him that it was probably an export name and could have been made by anyone and probably was intermediate quality at best. Taxijazz said that it was a player.
About a week later a tech I know gave me one. (Nice surprise!) I finished restoring it last night. (Better surprise! it really is a player.) Mine is like the one Dick describes except no gold wash in the bell. Of interest:
1) it has an adjustable barrel. It is a very pretty design. However, it doesn't take too many turns before it leaks and permits some wobble in the barrel.
2) the barrel has an extremely wide opening. I had to wrap 2 1/2 layers of greased paper around the cork on my mpc in order to get it to seal.
3) The keys are very well made. All of the cross-over keys (like the G# in the throat) are made with pad cups and key touches whose stems wrap against the pivot tubes. A cheaper construction technique is to have a single piece with the pad cup and the key touch and this piece simply crosses over the pivot tube (or has the pivot tube running through a hole in the middle. The former is much superior, and generally indicates a better quality instrument.
4) I am certain that it is silver plate. However, it is very very good silver plating. It is obvious that the body had been nicely burnished. A very pretty horn.
5) Mine also appears to have a number & letter stamped underneath the keys in the upper stack. I couldn't quite make them out for sure, but neither was an "F". Probably that is the serial number.
6) It plays very well. I like it better than any of the metal Bueschers that I have restored, and those were sold as pro instruments. The layout of the keys are a little awkward for me and the thumb rest is uncomfortable. For some reason, I can't get very high into the altissimo. I'm not willing to recork my favorite mpc just to see if that helps.
Much much better than the last horn I restored (recall the metal Pan American).
Please pass the crow.
And, if anyone knows anything more about the Paul Dupre, I would appreciate the information.
jim lande
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Author: JackOrion
Date: 2002-08-06 07:10
Jim, what type of pads are you putting on your metal clarinets? I talked to a repair guy and he kind of shied me away from leather, which I was strongly considering. I was also thinking cork but have heard that they are abit more difficult to seat properly.
Sorry no info on the Dupre, but thanks for posting your findings. Cheers!!
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Author: jim lande
Date: 2002-08-07 03:01
I used white kit leather bassoon pads. They come in three thicknesses and it turns out that the thinnest fits most metal clarinets. A tech that stocks only medium pads will find the leather pads more trouble than they are worth. One factor may be that Ferrees and some others stock only the medium white kit pads. I get mine from Ed Myer Music Parts. [Not a sneezy sponser. Contact me directly if you want a phone number or address]
Earlier this year i used cork pads, top to bottom, on a metal clarinet. i bought the smaller pads (expensive little buggers) and simply cut/filed sheet cork for the larger ones. I liked the results. It took a little longer. One advantage of cork is that you can file the back of the pad if you need it to slant a little or just to get it thinner. I was never any good at floating with shallac and now I use glue gun glue.
Cork pads are supposed to last, but can crumble if they dry out too much. (maybe) I sealed mine with dr slicks (a sponsor) slippery elm stuff. Some folks thought they woudl gum up as a result, and maybe they will, but not so far. But I don't play that horn very often.
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