The Clarinet BBoard  
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Author: Eric T  
Date:   2009-06-17 19:51 
 I've been given a Bb clarinet that was originally bought in 1920. It appears to be made of grenadilla wood, the keys seem to be silver-plated, and there are no visible defects or cracks in the wood. The only marking on the instrument is "L P B", stamped on both the upper and lower sections. I'm considering having the clarinet rebuilt (it's in poor mechanical condition), but I'd like to know more about the instrument. Does anyone out there know who the maker would have been? 
 
et
  
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Author: GBK  
Date:   2009-06-17 20:01 
 Eric T wrote: 
 
>The only marking on the instrument is "L P B", 
> stamped on both the upper and lower sections.  
 
 
L P B  probably refers to the fact that it is a low pitch Bb instrument. 
 
...GBK
  
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Author: tictactux ★2017 
Date:   2009-06-17 20:01 
 Hmm. LPB -> Low Pitch B(b)? The acronym doesn't ring the smallest bell. 
 
Got pictures, somehow? Register keywork, key cups, side trills are often helpful in identifying such an apparatus. 
 
(edit: the BBoard doesn't like square brackets somehow) 
 
--  
Ben 
 
Post Edited (2009-06-17 21:35)
  
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Author: Don Berger  
Date:   2009-06-17 21:26 
 What Ben asks for is needed, unless you have some familiarity with "turn of the crntury" clarinets and can describe it further. Is there any more info on it ?   My uninformed guess would be that its a "simple" [Albert] system Bb cl dating up to about 1920. Don 
 
Thanx, Mark, Don
  
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Author: Eric T  
Date:   2009-06-18 15:01 
 Thanks for the responses--I've compared this clarinet to my 2001 R-13, and the keywork is very similar (Boehm system). The length of the clarinet is also identical to the R-13. No other parts of the clarinet itself have identifying marks; however, the mouthpiece says "steel ebonite" and has an engraved signature of "Carl Fischer". The barrel has what appears to be an adjustable twisting mechanism to lengthen it if it were not frozen up... 
 
Thanks again, 
 
Eric 
 
et
  
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Author: David Spiegelthal ★2017 
Date:   2009-06-18 17:19 
 Eric, nearly every Boehm-system clarinet made in the last 100 years or so is externally very similar, if not identical to, your R-13.  The Boehm clarinet design essentially stopped evolving around 1890 or so.  
 
For spouting such iconoclastic blasphemy, the Buffet Mafia will no doubt resume their hunt for me.  I don't care any more.  My F. Arthur Uebels will protect me (Oehler-system clarinets act as talismans, or repellents if you will, against French clarinets).
  
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Author: oliver sudden  
Date:   2009-06-18 18:14 
 Oh no! I'm storing my Buffets and Uebels together! What am I going to see when I open up the storeroom tomorrow?
  
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Author: Don Berger  
Date:   2009-06-18 19:54 
 What should I do, D S, counting "lost sheep", I now have more Selmers than Leblancs, and NO Buffs [that I can recognise].  Dilllema?  Don 
 
Thanx, Mark, Don
  
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Author: aero145  
Date:   2009-06-18 20:29 
 Well Don, you should be proud not owning a Buffet - being a frequent member of this forum. 
 
:)
  
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Author: tictactux ★2017 
Date:   2009-06-18 23:24 
 The really bad part will come now: Etymologically, an "uebel" is "evil" (umptieth German consonant shift), and a "Buffet" is "all you can eat" (1st American meaning shift). Combining the two would result in the functional equivalent of a bad stomach. ![[tongue]](http://test.woodwind.org/clarinet/BBoard/smileys/smilie6.gif)  
 
On a proper diet, the two will get along quite well, as long as the Musical Mullahs leave them alone. 
 
--  
Ben
  
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