 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: MissShawna-Alice
Date: 2010-11-19 21:44
Yes, this is my third post in two days, but I was just so excited to be able to ask questions on clarinets!!
So, in addition to my owning a Bb and an A Leblanc, I would love to own an Eb Leblanc full boehm. I've yet to find one though. Has anyone seen one at all? Or do Leblanc (or any other company) not produce an Eb full boehm?
Thank you all for putting up with my insistent posting thanks for answering!!
Shawna-Alice <('_')>
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Author: Chris P
Date: 2010-11-19 21:53
I think they used to make them up until around 35 or so years ago (Selmer did too and so did Amati), though I haven't seen any in pictures or in real life - they haven't even offered a LH Ab/Eb key on their pro model Ebs for a long time either.
Just found a Bill Lewington pricelist from 1974 listing Leblanc LL full Boehm Ebs: http://www.clarinetperfection.com/galleryclar/Leblanc/Leblanc%20LL%20UK%20prices%201974.pdf
Former oboe finisher
Howarth of London
1998 - 2010
The opinions I express are my own.
Post Edited (2010-11-20 14:43)
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Author: Ken Shaw ★2017
Date: 2010-11-20 14:15
I've never seen or heard of a full Boehm Eb, at least going down to (written) low Eb. It would let you play D clarinet parts, such as Till Eulenspiegel, though I don't think I've ever heard that done on either an extended Eb or a D clarinet.
Clark Fobes makes an Eb clarinet extension that extends the bottom end of the body and has an extra hole, without a key. http://www.clarkwfobes.com/clarinet_EbExtension.html A full Boehm Eb might have a similar effect. You might get a key made for the Fobes extension, but it would be custom work. If you're that serious, spring for a real D clarinet.
Ken Shaw
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Author: bmcgar ★2017
Date: 2010-11-20 15:53
The Fobes extension does no't extend the range of an Eb clarinet.
Its purpose is to increase resonance and to even out tuning. It's unlikely that, even if there was a way to cover the hole in the extension to get a lower note, that would accurately render an extra half step beyond written low E,
B.
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Author: Jack Kissinger
Date: 2010-11-20 19:02
Have you tried? Out of curiosity one time, I covered the hole by pressing the extension against my leg. I got a very good Eb (1960s R13). YMMV.
Best regards,
jnk
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Author: Wes
Date: 2010-11-20 21:06
While I don't have a Leblanc full Boehm Eb clarinet, I have a full Boehm Eb clarinet with the name of the Japan Musical Instrument Company on it in Japanese. It has all the keys possible and is made quite well. It even has the Buffet-style donut key for LH fork fingerings. It could not likely have been made in Japan, but is probably a European stencil, perhaps Buffet, as I've never seen a donut key on any clarinet but a Buffet.
This was covered in a previous post, I recall. It was found at a garage sale and was imported by a sailor, possibly at the end of WW2, as his ship was mentioned in the case. As far as I know, donut keys occurred in the first quarter of the last century.
Good luck on finding a Leblanc!
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Author: Jack Kissinger
Date: 2010-11-21 00:50
Doughnut keys aren't exclusive to Buffet. I have a C-clarinet with a doughnut key made by Laubé (which means it was made no later than 1898) and stenciled Bay State (for a music store in Boston, as I recall).
Best regards,
jnk
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Author: Lelia Loban ★2017
Date: 2010-11-21 11:37
>>Doughnut keys aren't exclusive to Buffet.>>
Yes, I've got an H. Bettoney Silva-Bet clarinet in B-flat (silver-plated metal clarinet, probably from the 1930s) with the doughnut-hole pads. This is a full-Boehm clarinet. There is no center joint, but there is a 2-part bridge key where the center joint would be! The upper stack pads are the ordinary type, but the lower stack has those doughnut-shaped resonator pads, set in with flat-headed screws. A different Silva-Bet in B-flat and a Silva-Bet in E-flat of about the same age are not full-Boehm and have conventional pads all the way up and down, so that company did things both ways.
Lelia
http://www.scoreexchange.com/profiles/Lelia_Loban
To hear the audio, click on the "Scorch Plug-In" box above the score.
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Author: Ken Shaw ★2017
Date: 2010-11-21 12:24
Lelia -
I don't follow the metal clarinet closely, but I always thought the Silva-Bet was solid silver. Are they actually silver-plate? How about the H. Bettoney?
Ken Shaw
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Author: Alphie
Date: 2010-11-21 17:30
I'm playning Alban Berg's "Wozzek" at the moment and would need an full Böhm Eb since there are a few low Ebs
Alphie
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Author: Chris P
Date: 2010-11-21 18:24
Could you use a D clarinet for 'Wozzek' instead?
Former oboe finisher
Howarth of London
1998 - 2010
The opinions I express are my own.
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Author: Alphie
Date: 2010-11-21 19:10
Technically it would be possible of cause but not necessary I guess. The low Ebs are put within brackets in this edition and obviously not so important and could be left out. I don't know if Albie would have agreed.
Alphie
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Author: Lelia Loban ★2017
Date: 2010-11-22 00:38
>>I don't follow the metal clarinet closely, but I always thought the Silva-Bet was solid silver. Are they actually silver-plate? How about the H. Bettoney?
>>
The Silva-Bet was made by H. Bettoney, which was part of the Cundy-Bettoney company, at least as of the late 1930s. It's possible that some Silva-Bets were solid silver, but all three of the Silva-Bets I own are silver-plated. (There's some tell-tale plate wear on all of them.) However, this model was made over a number of years and may have changed over time.
I own an advertising brochure (no. 01246) for the Cundy-Bettoney company, distributed by the music store Buegeleisen & Jacobson, 5 Union Square, New York City, listing the following as H. Bettoney models, with prices effective as of June 1, 1937:
>>
SILVA-BET METAL CLARINETS are [illegible] in the one-piece and two-piece model. (Designate the two-piece model by substituting "T" for "O" in catalogue number.) Stock finish -- silver plated body, burnished finish; keys and inside of bell burnished. All keys and levers are hand hammered.
S21XO 17 keys, 6 rings, Bettoney patented forked Bb-Eb attachment. One-piece model, in Bb, A and Eb...$135
S23XO 17 keys, 7 rings. The forked Bb-Eb is made by an extra ring for third finger left hand, also by Bettoney patented Bb-Eb attachment. One-piece model in Bb and A...$150
S28XO Same as S21XO, but with articulated F#-G# and B-C# attachment. One-piece model, in Bb and A...$170
S29XO Same as S28XO, but with F#-G# and B-C# attachment. One-piece model, in Bb and A...$175
S33XO 20 keys, 7 rings, including low Eb key, forked Bb-Eb made by extra ring for third finger left hand, articulated F#-G# attachment, extra Eb-Ab lever little finger left hand, full improved Boehm. One-piece model, in Bb and A...$199
>>
Under STANDARD EQUIPMENT, the flyer also states that the Silva-Bets in Bb and A (but not in Eb) come with a tuning barrel.
That same flyer lists H. Bettoney wood clarinets, just H. Bettoney with no model name, in the same range of key systems (except the full Boehm is available only in Bb) but only two-piece bodies, ranging from $135 to $190.
The prices for the H. Bettoney wooden clarinets and the H. Bettoney Silva-Bets include case, Bettoney hard rubber or crystal mouthpiece, lyre, swab, screwdriver, reed case and cork grease.
The other models in this flyer are the H. Bettoney Cadet in either wood ($60) or metal ($45) and the H. Bettoney Columbia in wood two-piece ($80) and metal one-piece (also $80), each in Bb, A and Eb with tuning barrels on the metal Bb and A models. The flyer states that the metal Cadet is silver-plated but doesn't specify for the Columbia, although the price indicates it's plated. The prices included cases, lyres, red boxes, cork grease, swab and Bettoney mouthpieces for these student models.
The flyer also says,
>>Prices of other styles and other finishes of metal clarinets quoted on request.>>
That last line leaves open the possibility that these clarinets also may have been made in solid silver at the time, but I've never seen a solid silver Silva-Bet nor seen an ad for one.
Lelia
http://www.scoreexchange.com/profiles/Lelia_Loban
To hear the audio, click on the "Scorch Plug-In" box above the score.
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Author: Klarnetisto
Date: 2010-11-22 02:37
Lelia, thanks for all the detailed info about Bettoney clarinets!
I've just been reading an article by Harry Bettoney in Woodwind magazine from December 1950. There he says that he made his metal clarinets from nickel silver, which he explained is an alloy of c. 65% copper and 15-18% nickel, the remainder zinc, then trace elements: lead, tin...
Klarnetisto
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Author: Ken Shaw ★2017
Date: 2010-11-22 16:52
I believe Selmer made solid silver clarinets. They've gone for prices at auction that you think silver would bring and silver plate would not. Certainly the Haynes clarinets were all silver.
Ken Shaw
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