 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: Jollylongfellow
Date: 2024-09-11 22:27
Hi there I'm new to this forum. Thanks for having me. I play the clarinet and want to get a bass clarinet. I can't really afford one at the moment but I have just come across someone selling an Ida Maria Grassi Bass clarinet for a really cheap price. Apparently it was only used once. I cant find any reviews of this Bass clarinet online so I was wondering if any of you here have any experience with this brand and if it would be worth buying it, or if it would be better to wait til I can afford a more reputable brand. Thanks for your help! Jolly
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Author: bradfordlloyd
Date: 2024-09-11 23:01
Ida Maria Grassi is known for making some very good saxophones. I'm a bit surprised to find that they may have made bass clarinets!
My guess, however is that this is a stenciled instrument that was probably made by either Italian maker Rampone & Cazzani (which, apparently, has its factory just down the road from Ida Maria Grassi's) or Malerne, who seemed to make stenciled bass clarinets for just about everyone.
I used to own a Malerne bass clarinet that was a good, basic instrument (really, nothing special, but it did the job). And I've only played a couple of Rampone & Cazzani instruments (not bass clarinets) and didn't think much of them (although, to be fair, neither of the R&C instruments I played were in particularly good repair).
If you have any photos, someone could probably identify the instrument and help you figure out exactly what you have.
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Author: Julian ibiza
Date: 2024-09-13 10:31
Hi Jolly,
If you can establish for a fact that the price is a good one, then that at least puts you in a good position for reselling it if you find that you're not satisfied with it. Sometimes people will get a bass, struggle with it, and reach the conclusion that the thing is a donkey, when actually all it needs is proper regulation( and so they sell it !) Basses are a bit like planes in that if everything is not just so..then they won't fly.
Or as my Spanish wife puts it, they are " muy señorito".
Julian Griffiths
Tel. 34 696 798 853
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Author: clarnibass
Date: 2024-09-16 09:04
A photo might help identify it.
Does it say "Made in Italy"? Or possibly "Made in... somewhere"? Or just a country name? That could help identify it too.
According to an Italian friend who is knowledgeable about Italian woodwinds in particular... if it says Made in Italy and nothing else... it is most likely Orsi.
Grassi used to make flutes and saxophones, but almost certainly not bass clarinets (excluding newer Chinese made clarinets, not made by them directly). It's probably a stencil.
Assuming you are talking about an old bass clarinet, if it was made in Italy it could be a Rampone. It was the largest manufacturer in that area. Can't say anything about their quality, I haven't seen a bass clarinet. Their old (60s-70s) saxophones were poorly made (but sounded very good) and their current saxophones (R&C) are excellent, much better made.
Orsi was the largest manufacturer but wasn't really interested in making Stencils so that's not likely.
Ripamonti still makes clarinets and bass clarinets. Not sure if they ever made stencils but I guess it's possible (though unlikely).
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Author: David Spiegelthal ★2017
Date: 2024-09-19 04:33
The Internet is your friend. Look up Grassi's website:
https://idamariagrassi.com/products/gr-clb400-bb-bass-clarinet/
Made in China, what a surprise.
To Nitai: I have several Rampone saxes (a tenor and two altos) probably from the 1960s or 70s, (two are stencils but clearly Rampone-made), and not only do they all play well, I consider them to be solidly built. Not sure why you feel they were poorly made. I'll admit the ergonomics are an acquired taste, but I find them comfortable. Nice sound and in-tune.
Orsi: I have one of their bass clarinets, guessing 1950s or 60s-vintage, low serial number (in the 200s). Unusual design, good in some ways but the worst double-register vent design I've ever worked on. That said, after putting way more work into it than I care to admit, it sounds terrific. I believe it's a quite a rare instrument, I've only seen (photos of) one other like it in my entire 50 years of playing/working on bass clarinets.
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Author: clarnibass
Date: 2024-09-19 11:35
>> Made in China, what a surprise. <<
This is current. AFAIK Grassi hasn't been making instruments themselves in Italy for a while.
I thought the OP was probably about an older one, but who knows. Most of the old ones had Made in Italy written on them (but not always).
>> Not sure why you feel they were poorly made. <<
It's possible they made improvements and/or changes over time, but the old (mostly 60s... possibly 70s) Rampone saxophones I've seen had extremely soft keys and particularly soft body metal, more than any sax I've seen, and to the point it caused very significant problems with accuracy of adjustments, etc.
In addition they had a bad design where the weaker and stronger parts of the keys were, for example key cups themselves being much softer than the key arms (usually goes along with too stiff key arms but not in this case).
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