 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: mnhnhyouh
Date: 2006-08-18 14:01
I am looking at a Semer Paris clarinet with a serial number in the 4000 range with a K prefix. So it is k4000 odd.
The sites I have looked at dont have any listings for serial numbers in the K range.
Does anybody know how old this would be?
h
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Author: Don Berger
Date: 2006-08-18 15:44
Hi h - I have a good Selmer Bb, L12xx, dated to 1932. Its a Full Boehm model 20keys/7rings. It has RI [Radio Improved] in its logo. Yours, being a late K model [assuming its that old, a K might be a very late {repeated} designation, not sure !] so I'd guess about 1930-1. What else does it have in its logo, SGDG, perhaps?, my 1929 Sel A has it ! Luck, Don
Thanx, Mark, Don
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Author: John O'Janpa
Date: 2006-08-18 15:44
I believe th "K" series is from approximately 1930. They preceded the "R.I" and the "B.T."
Someone else will probably have more specific info.
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Author: DressedToKill
Date: 2006-08-18 16:23
I have nothing of substantial help to add to the thread, but I did want to say that one of the best A clarinets I have ever played in my entire life was a Selmer K series...I constantly kick myself for selling that sucker.
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Author: Chris P
Date: 2006-08-18 16:53
I have a K-series full Boehm Bb (K23xx) - oval logo (very similar looking to the Buffet logo, which is why they changed it) but with a transplanted top joint with the circular logo, though it does need a total rebuild - some silly arse has soft soldered a bit of brass to the low E key (which I've taken off) and had only this key nickel plated - if I can't get that reverse plated (ie. removed) I might have the lot silver plated.
On the bell under the logo it has:
BRITISH AGENTS
J.R. LAFLEUR & SONS Ltd.
LONDON
You can't go wrong with these, so long as they're sound - and well worth having overhauled to top notch playing condition.
The A in the set has the serial number 70xx, is a standard Boehm but has a perforated fingerplate (like an oboe) for RH 1, with a bridge and adjusting screw fitted as well to close the ring key pad with it. Nicely done, but the keywork generally is very well made and made with a high degree of pride by the looks of it - and certainly not what you'd find in a production clarinet nowadays.
Former oboe finisher
Howarth of London
1998 - 2010
The opinions I express are my own.
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Author: Bill
Date: 2006-08-19 02:54
I have L296 (a three-digit serial number), which I believe is made to "K" series specifications. It has a much smaller bore than my N series.
Intonation is excellent, great twelfths. I had some problems with it in the beginning when I used a short barrel I was convinced was the right one to use (came with the instrument, etc.). As soon as I started using the 66 mm that came with my N series Selmer, it tuned up excellently. It is an odd clarinet in that the lower joint extends higher than all the other clarinets I have seen. Also, the top joint extends noticably higher above the register key hole than average. Even the bell is more elongated.
When I purchased it, I was shopping for a BT or at least a Selmer in that range. Of course, I didn't obtain that. But now I am in awe of K series Selmers. And, anyway, my personal theory is that Selmer bores widened up into the N series (i.e., I think N's were wider than the famous BTs). I have the L, an unrefurbished M (not a BT but an early N-style), and my N. The N is the widest.
But there no touching the P series CT. Tough choices. I think I'll keep them all.
Bill.
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Author: super20dan
Date: 2006-08-19 23:30
i also have an k series and agree its a good horn but my bt is a better clarinet. i brefly owned a k full boem but it didnt play all that great so i sold it
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Author: ghuba
Date: 2006-08-20 15:08
Interesting. I have exactly the opposite reaction -- a K I have is an exceptional clarinet and one of the best I own and "better" than BT, L, and CT Selmer clarinets (all restored by the same tech) that I also own.
For me -- an amateur -- the sound I get with a K is dark and "smoky" and similar to that of a Selmer Recital and quite different from that of the BT, L, or CT which are brighter and less in tune.
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Author: BTBob
Date: 2006-08-21 02:22
Interesting. I'm gonna have to try one of the Ks...maybe change my name to KBob if I like it
Where are some of the tuning difficulties on the BT than the K does not have? Can you recall? TIA...
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