 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: David Spiegelthal ★2017
Date: 2009-07-20 17:29
They were good while they lasted. Darn shame they went out of business 40 or so years ago. They didn't make motorcycles or stereo equipment, however.
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Author: tictactux ★2017
Date: 2009-07-20 20:56
So I presume those that pop up these days aren't real Kohlerts any longer, huh?
(it's a pity to go out of business, but it's a shame to huckster your brand name to the next best bidder)
--
Ben
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Author: David Spiegelthal ★2017
Date: 2009-07-20 21:08
The current instruments labelled "Kohlert" are made in Vietnam and have nothing to do with the long-time, European Kohlert line. The Asian company simply stole the name (I suppose it's possible they bought rights to the name, but I rather doubt it.)
I've tried a couple of the Asian "Kohlert" saxes (one tenor and one soprano) and they're actually not bad --- typical copies of Yamaha, Yanagisawa and Henri Selmer design features, but their materials and workmanship have improved to the point where the instruments are quite playable and don't immediately fall apart as they did 10-15 years ago.
I still hate to see the venerable Kohlert name plastered on somebody else's student-line instruments, though. It just ain't right!
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Author: blazian
Date: 2009-07-21 02:54
Kohlerts need defending? Anybody who talks badly about Kohlerts should be labeled a... a... BUFFET! (Several seconds later a thread pops up titled "In Defense of Buffet").
Seriously, I think Kohlert brand is one of the best. If it was still around I bet it would be one of the top five. It makes me wonder how they went out of business with such great quality instruments being shipped out.
- Martin
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Author: David Spiegelthal ★2017
Date: 2009-07-21 03:35
"Then came the big mistake; the two remaining brothers, Kurt and Ernst, entered into contracts with American wholesalers which guaranteed that the Kohlerts would supply instruments at the same price for ten years. What the brothers didn't foresee was the onset of the "deutsche Wirtschaftswunder," or economic miracle, when the materials costs and wages rose so dramatically. At this point they couldn't get out of these long-term commitments-the penalty for breach of contract was severe. Instead of specializing, they continued to make the whole range of instruments and the profit margin kept shrinking. Realizing they couldn't continue in this manner, they tried to cut labor costs by minimizing handwork. It appears that this move was rather poorly thought out and accomplished little. They hired engineers to figure out how to make certain parts more efficiently, i.e., at lower cost per unit. Suddenly cases and cases of a single key, or some other part, would arrive. The lower cost had been achieved by manufacturing quantities greater than they could have used "if they had worked another hundred years on them" Suits were brought against these consultants, but the Kohlerts lost and were left with a financial situation which required declaring bankruptcy in 1965."
From article "Whatever Happened to the Kohlerts?" by Paul and Janel Lein
http://www.idrs.org/publications/DR/DR13.1/DR13.1.Lein.Kohlert.html
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Author: Ebclarinet1
Date: 2009-07-23 12:22
I played a Kohlert English horn when I was in high school ('69--'72) and it was a great horn, even had a low Bb and an alligator case. I remember that case impressed everyone at the music festivals! Lovely sound too. I did 'William Tell' on it in the spring of '69 and got a concert bow. That horn must have been bought right about the time of the bankruptcy filing as I was the second one to use it and the other person had barely touched it.
Anyway thanks for you guys telling the story. When I was looking for a horn of my own right after college I couldn't find a Kohlert and bought a Selmer that i regretted but now I have a Rigoutat that is gorgeous.
Eefer guy
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Author: blazian
Date: 2009-07-23 22:50
My Kohlert (labeled a B&H Edgware) has a faux alligator skin case too! I'm regretting ripping it off. Now my case is just bare wood.
- Martin
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Author: soybean
Date: 2009-07-24 20:35
I spoke with a guy who collects Kohlert instruments. He said the real gems were the early wooden boehm piccolos and flutes.
~Dan
(Leblanc Bliss, Buffet R13 key of A, Yamaha 250 Bb)
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Author: Gordon (NZ)
Date: 2009-07-25 00:13
My childhood flute was a Kohlert, which my teacher got me to import, because he thought it better than other student flutes at the time.
It was sort of OK, but definitely not a "gem". A modern Yamaha student flute would leave it for dead in every way.
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Author: soybean
Date: 2009-07-28 10:02
The flutes he was recommending were from the 1920s or earlier. I'm not sure exactly, but they were the real early Boehm models. I have tried to snag one of the piccolos, but they seem to sell for pretty big bucks. (Sorry David about all the flute talk.)
~Dan
(Leblanc Bliss, Buffet R13 key of A, Yamaha 250 Bb)
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Author: David Spiegelthal ★2017
Date: 2009-07-28 13:33
Speaking of early Kohlerts, but steering the thread back towards clarinets (subtle, aren't I?), I've just finished a complete restoration of an old V. Kohlert's Sons (Bohemia) bass clarinet, which was originally a 'shorty' low-E model but had a short extension and additional key expertly added by some past technician to increase the range to the current standard low-Eb. I suspect the instrument was made between 1900 and 1920.
It has a funky automatic double register vent mechanism in which the upper vent on the neck is sprung to OPEN, with three(!) different levers pushing on it to keep it closed when it is supposed to be closed. It looks a bit Rube Goldberg-ish and was a pain to set up, but works quite well in practice. I wasn't expecting the instrument to play great but am pleased to report that it's a gem --- intonation is about as good as it gets and it has probably the best tone (by a slight margin) of my three Kohlert basses.
So now I have a well-rounded and diverse mini-collection of Kohlert bass clarinets, all restored and in perfect working condition and looking good:
-- The aforementioned two-piece-body wood one, to low-Eb, early 1900s;
-- A metal one (labeled "Kohlert & Co., Czecho-Slovakia"), two-piece body
with homemade low-C extension, probably late 1940s/early 1950s; and
-- A hard-rubber "Kohlert & Co., Winnenden, Germany" model, one-piece
body, low-Eb with extended upper joint to allow upper register vent to be
on the body instead of the neck, probably 1960s to early 1970s.
It's interesting (to me, if nobody else) how similarly these three seemingly very different instruments feel and play, despite being made of three different body materials, having three different register vent mechanism designs, and spanning perhaps 60 years of corporate history. As I wrote earlier, it's a darn shame the company didn't survive.
Post Edited (2009-07-28 15:07)
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