 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: Terrell
Date: 2006-08-31 15:52
Hello everyone,
I'm a new member here, so I thought I'd say hello. I'm sure you'll see postings from me here in the future, as I know I will have lots of clarinet questions. : )
I'm 35, I played bass clarinet when I was about 12, so it's been a long time.
I just recently got the bug to play clarinet. I made a trade, and ended up with a used wood Pruefer "Super Artist" clarinet. It seems very playable, but then I'm a total beginner, so it could need some work. Are there any things I should check right away to avoid future repairs? Oiling? The pads seem good.
Also, I would love to know how old it is, and it's value. I found a serial number list, it starts at 6851 in 1934-38, but my number is A00790. Does this mean it's from 1934-38?
I traded it for a skateboard. Did I get a good trade, or an old crappy, clarinet?
Even though I've only had it a day, I love it already, so I hope it's a good one : )
I want to clean it up, and get her going the best she can, but I have limited funds, so anything you can suggest that I can safely do myself would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks for reading my post : )
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Author: awm34
Date: 2006-08-31 17:30
I recently bought a Preufer A clarinet on ebay and had it reconditioned. Its serial number is 2495. Don't know the year of manufacture. Total cost: $430 and it plays pretty well. I haven't yet mastered its idiosyncracies when playing descending clarion passages from G to B. Otherwise it's fine.
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Author: Don Berger
Date: 2006-08-31 17:47
Hi Terrell - Since not very many of us have a Pruefer cl, I'll "chime in" having recently sold a "Silver Throat [U J only]" cl to a new student, dern good cl !. I have an early {1930's ?, ser # 2501] Pru., a 19[keys]/7[rings], single-body !! model, well restored by John Butler [see classifieds] and "tweaked to my liking". Its wood is good but needed his pro TLC. I call it my 3/4 ths Full Boehm, quite playable. So you may have a golden oldie, prob. well worth keeping/restoring/playing. Having played bass cl [as I do now most of the time{in comm. bands etc}], you should have little trouble "starting again". So, keep tuned here and good luck, Don
Thanx, Mark, Don
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Author: David Spiegelthal ★2017
Date: 2006-08-31 21:12
I've restored and played a half-dozen or so Pruefers of various models (mainly Silver Throats and Artist Models) in the last decade, and while all have played pretty well and were decently made, I never felt they had a particularly outstanding sound -- all seemed rather colorless and neutral-sounding to me -- so I didn't keep any of them, sold them all.
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Author: Terrell
Date: 2006-09-01 14:59
Thanks for all your replies so far....
I just was wondering if, as a beginner with limited funds, I might be better off with a plastic Yamaha student model or someting similar? My thoughts being that if this Pruefer is really old, and needs a lot of TLC that I can't afford, maybe a newer plastic body clarinet would be more suited for my situation??? What do you guys think?
I'm nostalgic, and like the idea of the Pruefer being so old....but if it's going to need a lot of care I can't give it, maybe it would be better off with someone else??
And David Spiegelthal, how much did you sell all those Pruefer Artist Models for? I just want to get a basic idea of it's value.
Thanks everyone!!!
This looks like a great board, with lots of friendly, knowledgeable people.
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Author: David Spiegelthal ★2017
Date: 2006-09-01 15:48
Terrell -- I doubt if I got much more than $300 for any of the Pruefers, and that's after doing $200 overhauls on them -- take this info for what it's worth. If you filed off the Pruefer logos and stamped Buffet logos, no doubt you could triple the market value of the clarinets without doing anything else to them! Brand name recognition, baby..........................
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Author: tictactux ★2017
Date: 2006-09-01 16:00
David Spiegelthal wrote:
> If you filed off the Pruefer logos and stamped Buffet logos, no
> doubt you could triple the market value of the clarinets without
> doing anything else to them!
Heresy! ![[tongue]](http://test.woodwind.org/clarinet/BBoard/smileys/smilie6.gif)
--
Ben
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Author: Don Berger
Date: 2006-09-01 17:00
D S et al - Welcome to OUR cl non-conformist society. Yup, I like Selmers and Leblancs the best. Don
Thanx, Mark, Don
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Author: David Spiegelthal ★2017
Date: 2006-09-01 17:12
Too mainstream still, Don! You must join me in spreading the arcane gospel of Couesnon, Penzel-Mueller and Jerome Thibouville-Lamy! Only in this way can we deflect the Buffet juggernaut...............
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Author: Terrell
Date: 2006-09-01 19:46
OK, we're getting way off topic here.
Can anyone answer the questions I asked earlier in my posting?
I would like to know if an old wood clarinet is going to be too costly for me to own and keep up as a beginner.
Being a beginner with limited funds to spend on this new hobby, I'm not going out and purchasing a Selmer, Leblanc or Buffet. I would just like to know if I would be better off with a more durable "student" plastic composite model, like a Yamaha YCL250 or something similar, than an old wood clarinet that may need constant TLC (and $$)
thanks!
Post Edited (2006-09-01 20:17)
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Author: Mark Charette
Date: 2006-09-01 20:06
Terrell wrote:
> I would like to know if an old wood clarinet is going to be too
> costly for me to own and keep up as a beginner.
I think if you read the replies thorougly you'd see that you'll save some money but not a lot.
A good beginning clarinet can be had new for $400-$500. Your clarinet will probably cost near $200 to put into reasonable shape and won't be better than a new beginner's clarinet (and possible worse, even after the work).
IMO, older clarinets are a bargain in the middle & upper ranges, but at the lower ranges it becomes rather 'iffy' if you aren't up to doing your own repairs/overhauls and have the experience in knowing which ones have potential and which ones don't.
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Author: tictactux ★2017
Date: 2006-09-01 20:38
> Welcome to OUR cl non-conformist society. Yup, I like Selmers
> and Leblancs the best.
You call that non-conformist? ![[wink]](http://test.woodwind.org/clarinet/BBoard/smileys/smilie3.gif)
> A good beginning clarinet can be had new for $400-$500.
Okay, I'll bite. I'm probably the only one in here to wave the Amati flag, but what the heck. I have a 211 Amati (wood with plastic bell, compare to B's E10 or A's 311) and the sole problem I found was the incompetent player behind the mouthpiece.
Bear in mind that Amati manufactures lots of clarintes for highly praised brands; there should be no workmanship issues in recent models.
In a nutshell, I'd buy it again.
--
Ben
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Author: Tony Beck
Date: 2006-09-02 01:55
Just to amplify on what Mark said, you will probably not get your money out of an overhaul on your Pruefer. But, if you like bringing old things back to life, the dollars required aren't all that much and the satisfaction of getting it playing again is more than worth it (as long as you can afford it). My backup Bb is a 1919-ish Kohlert, which was a good intrument in its time. It still plays well enough to take to band practice once in a while. Who knows, maybe it played Rhapsody in Blue when it and that piece were new...well, it COULD have.
If you get it overhauled and decide it's not for you, you can always donate it to a school band and take a couple hundred dollar deduction. They are usually more than happy to get instruments for the kids.
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Author: Terrell
Date: 2006-09-24 16:16
no worries, I heard from him.....
: )
Post Edited (2006-09-25 18:18)
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Author: Mark Charette
Date: 2006-09-24 16:19
Terrell wrote:
> I just noticed the guy who I made the trade with is a member of
> this board, and has been for some time.
...
> emailed him again, he never responded.
Oftentimes people change email addresses and it doesn't get recorded here. There may be nothing "sinister".
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Author: buedsma
Date: 2006-09-25 14:43
older noblets and leblancs regularly sell for between 50 and 200$ and are not bad at all.
I did the experiment by using a selmer barrel from my SII selmer onto a repaired leblanc esprit. Th e sound was a lot better ( colored , texture ) then with the original barrel. The physical qualitiers of all those instruments ( keywork , wood etc ) are more then oke. The only thing you'll never know is how all those instruments compare regarding sound quality.
Best Regards
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Author: LarryBocaner ★2017
Date: 2006-09-25 18:43
Preufers were not uncommon when I was a youngster (30's and 40's) and were not highly regarded at the time. Spending good money to overhaul one today is sort of like lovingly restoring a Ford Pinto or (ugh) a Yugo:
Why??
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Author: super20dan
Date: 2006-09-26 00:03
i disagree-a pueffer is worth restoring. my favorite big band clarinet is my pueffer silverthroat hard rubber . biggest sound of ANY clarinet due to the huge bore(only the b/h imperial 1010 is bigger) and the coin silver lining . no one plays these as they were sold as student models but believe me they play good enough for jazz and project like nothing else.
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