 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: moxielll
Date: 2007-12-27 18:11
I recently purchased a used Wurlitzer Clarinet, serial #50655, marked-
HS**, made in France. Can anyone tell me what it is I have?
Jim
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Author: stevesklar
Date: 2007-12-27 18:22
I assume you mean the mouthpiece is a Selmer HS**, made in france.
the clarinet is a Wurlitzer .. and someone else will have to tell you about that make.
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Author: Chris P
Date: 2007-12-28 13:01
Your Wurlitzer is most likely a Normandy (by Leblanc) under a different name. I've only seen them in plastic (the same as plastic Normandy and Vito clarinets) and made for the Wurlitzer company that are famous for their harps, theatre organs and juke boxes.
Though they're not to be confused with the German companies F.Wurlitzer, H.Wurlitzer, Cl.Wurlitzer or P.K.Wurlitzer, etc. who specialise in German and Oehler system clarinets.
Former oboe finisher
Howarth of London
1998 - 2010
The opinions I express are my own.
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Author: David Spiegelthal ★2017
Date: 2007-12-28 14:35
If it's an American Wurlitzer, then it is indeed a rebranded Vito. I played such a "Wurlitzer" plastic bass clarinet in high school - it was 100% a Vito. It passed the US Navy requirements for adequate equipment:
1) Works fine
2) Lasts a long time
3) Fails safe
4) Drains to the bilge*
*Don't ask.......
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Author: Ken Shaw ★2017
Date: 2007-12-28 14:43
There are two kinds of Wurlitzer clarinets. First are the hand-made, super-high-quality ones with astronomical prices, made in Germany. Second (or, actually, in millionth place) are super-cheapo clarinet-shaped objects that makers tried to associate with good name of the Mighty Wurlitzer theater organ.
Unless you paid a high price, and, most likely, got an instrument with Oehler keywork, you almost certainly got the second type. Show the clarinet to a repair tech or a good player, who can tell you what you have. If it's a type 2, I'd get rid of it as quickly as possible. The ones I've tried have been unplayable.
Ken Shaw
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Author: Chris P
Date: 2007-12-28 14:58
But if it is the Leblanc-built one, it'll be built like a tank and will last for yonks (and well worth having all done up).
Former oboe finisher
Howarth of London
1998 - 2010
The opinions I express are my own.
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Author: moxielll
Date: 2007-12-28 16:11
Thank you all for the replies. While the name on the instrument says" Wurlitzer", the case says- Wurlitzer, Elkhard, Indiana. Seems to have
16 keys, 6 rings, 1 open hole, and is plastic/bakelite-type. Bought it at
a Goodwill Store for $25. Thanks again.
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Author: David Spiegelthal ★2017
Date: 2007-12-28 19:39
It sounds like what we have here is indeed a Vito stencil -- which means it is neither a prized German Wurlitzer, nor a "CSO" to be discarded, as Ken Shaw seems to think. It is a Vito, no more and no less. A decent student or marching clarinet.
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Author: Mark Charette
Date: 2007-12-28 19:47
David Spiegelthal wrote:
> It sounds like what we have here is indeed a Vito stencil --
> which means it is neither a prized German Wurlitzer, nor a
> "CSO" to be discarded, as Ken Shaw seems to think. It is a
> Vito, no more and no less.
The one Wurlitzer I've seen was far from being a Vito stencil. The Vito keys are well made and the plastic body reasonably well finished (I learned on a 7414 I inherited from my son). The Wurlitzer was a CSO. Perhaps some are stencils; the one example I've seen was a "genuine copy of an imitation Lark" (to paraphrase Allen Sherman).
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Author: David Spiegelthal ★2017
Date: 2007-12-28 23:57
It's entirely possible, and even likely, that although "Wurlitzer"-branded clarinets from Elkhart were indeed Vito stencils back when I was in school (we're talking 1970s, folks), they have since, like almost everything else it seems, been outsourced to China and cheapened in the decades since. If this is so, then the clarinet in question could be either a Vito or a cheap Chinese-made throwaway, depending on its age. Let's hope it's the former.
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Author: Chris P
Date: 2007-12-29 07:58
The Vito 'Wurlitzers' I've seen were from the '70s, and were bought from pawn shops in the US and imported by a company in the UK (MIR), then bought by small music shops to overhaul (which is how I came into contact with them back in the '80s) and sell on or use as rental stock instead of renting out new B12s.
Former oboe finisher
Howarth of London
1998 - 2010
The opinions I express are my own.
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Author: moxielll
Date: 2007-12-29 13:48
Thanks for the photo. Looks to be a Leblanc Vito. Nice, smooth action,
good finish. Thought I'd hit the Lotto for a moment!
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Author: Chris P
Date: 2007-12-29 14:11
For $25 you've still got yourself a good clarinet.
Former oboe finisher
Howarth of London
1998 - 2010
The opinions I express are my own.
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