 The Bassoon BBoard
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Author: EuGeneSee
Date: 2006-07-29 19:49
I was a HS band clarinet player about 45 years ago and have recently begun relearning it because the formation of a local community band stirred my interest. Anyhoo, way back there - 47 or 48 years ago, I played with a school instrument bassoon some and loved it. So, now that I'm doing this band thing, I scrounged up a Lafleur bassoon and would like to find out something about it. It is obviously a beginner's model as it doesn't have any of the usual extra keys of a more advanced model. On the instrument all it says is Lafleur Artist, London and Paris, made in France, and each piece is numbered either 25V or V25 (the former has the V located right after the 25 while the latter has the V above the 25). I find no other numbers anywhere on the outside of the instrument or under the boot cap.
Any information out there on this thing?
EuGene
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Author: Merlin
Date: 2006-07-29 20:25
I've seen a number of Lafleur bassoons that were stencilled by Amati. Probably not this one, given the made in France designation.
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Author: EuGeneSee
Date: 2006-07-29 21:11
Merlin:
I don't know anything about Lafleur bassoons in general and mine in particular, except that it was a college instrument which they bought about 50 years ago (don't know if it was new or used then - prob. new). I bought it from a gal who bought it from the college about 10 years ago when they replaced some of their older instruments. She had bought a Fox some years back and didn't use the Lafleur any more.
EuGene
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Author: Ian White
Date: 2006-09-07 08:14
As Merlin says the usual Lafleur bassoons we see were made in by Amati in, as it was at the time, Czheckoslovakia in 1960s & 70s I think for Boosey & Hawkes. But Made in France must be a different beast.
Is it the common Heckel system or French system?
Ian
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Author: EuGeneSee
Date: 2006-09-09 13:31
Ian:
The Lafleur is a standard Heckel system bassoon, a student model I presume, as it has none of the extra high/low keys or whisper key lock.
Eu
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Author: Chris P
Date: 2006-10-17 16:03
The only French built Heckel system bassoon I've seen was by (pre-Loree) Cabart - it had the flat, natural and sharp signs and the ship logo (not a hedgehog which I thought it was!) so maybe your Lafleur Artist could be one of these.
I don't know if Malerne made Heckel system bassoons for other companies (or if they made bassoons at all) - I know their oboes, cors anglais and clarinets go under several different names.
Former oboe finisher
Howarth of London
1998 - 2010
The opinions I express are my own.
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Author: EuGeneSee
Date: 2006-10-20 13:32
Every bassoon I have ever actually seen was of the Heckel system and my Lafleur is of the same design. I have never seen a French style bassoon, but understand there are significant differences in the keying system, somewhat similar to the way an Albert system clarinet differs from one with the Boehm system.
As for who made this thing, I have no clue, but it is quite possible that it was stenciled by one of the French makers, as I don't think B&H had a plant in France. Maybe our UK (or French) members on this board might know a little more about B&H history, or have knowledgeable acquaintenances over there from whom they might glean some information on the French made Lafleur. Eu
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Author: EuGeneSee
Date: 2006-10-20 13:49
Well, now that I have seen the close-up pix of a beautiful French bassoon that Chris P. posted (via a link) on Terry Stibal's French bassoon thread, I can surely see the vast difference between the French and Heckel system bassoons.
By the way, I just now noticed the spelling "Hawkws" that I typed in the original opening of this thread. Duh! Eu
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