 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: Matt Locker
Date: 2002-01-31 15:20
Does anyone know anything about this brand? Quality, app. years of manufacture?
TIA,
Matt
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Author: JMcAulay
Date: 2002-01-31 16:07
Matt, I know only enough about Penzel-Mueller to advise my belief that some were very good, some were sub-mediocre. Perhaps you could tell more about the instrument -- model, serial number, pitch, etc.
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Author: Bob Arney
Date: 2002-01-31 16:10
There are 62 items under "search" here and 10 under "search" in the archives. Did you start thre?
Bob A
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Author: David Spiegelthal
Date: 2002-01-31 21:50
From what I've read and my limited personal experience with P-M's, I'd say that they were one of the two American manufacturers of consistently high-quality clarinets (the other being Prueffer), although it's debatable whether either company ever achieved the level of the better French manufacturers (B, L, S) or those pesky Japanese folks (Y). P-M was an old company, started as G. Penzel back in the late 1800's I think, then merged with Mueller (maybe around the 1920's??) to become P-M, and as far as I know they ceased to exist somewhere around the WW2 timeframe. I'm writing this off-the-cuff without research (laziness, no doubt) so take all of this with a large lump of salt.
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Author: Fred
Date: 2002-01-31 22:56
My parents bought me a new P-M in around 1962. It was a dog, but probably a lower end model which never got its share of adjustment and maintenance.
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Author: rmk
Date: 2002-01-31 23:08
Wasn't Hans Moennig associated with either Penzel-Muller and/or Prueffer?
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Author: David Spiegelthal
Date: 2002-02-01 13:37
Minor corrections to my previous posting: (a) It does appear that P-M existed at least until 1960, not disappearing around WW2 as I had surmised, and (b) I misspelled "Pruefer" (it has only one "f"). I hope the clarinet community will forgive me. Next time I won't write until I've had my first cuppa cawfee.
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Author: Don Berger
Date: 2002-02-01 14:37
You are forgiven, Dave, I need a couple of kups of cawfee to be civilized and as sharp as an old duffer can be. Yes, as I have said [now in the archives, Matt] my first good cl was a PM full Boehm, which I still have and play on at times. A close friend in our Tulsa comm band plays an Artist model well, and doesn't really want to switch!! So, my conclusion is that most PM's are OK, even tho of "classical" bore size and not poly-cyl. Don
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Author: Jim S.
Date: 2002-02-01 21:10
Sounds of Woodwinds (Hancock, Mass.) advertised a used Penzel-Mueller "Clarimet", a metal double walled clarinet, for $650.00 back in the early 1980's. They had many used Buffets and Selmers plus obscure antique clarinets also listed, some quite expensive, and apparently were knowledgeable dealers in instruments (perhaps still are). They said, "...unlike the Haynes metal clarinet this one plays in tune, beautiful." Although this may be a little advertising hyperbole, the price seem to indicate that Penzel-Mueller was capable of making a good clarinet.
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Author: Lindsey Ondrey
Date: 2002-02-03 01:43
My grandma has a PM that I have borrowed a few times (she no longer plays) that they had overhauled a few years ago so it would be in good condition when I needed to use it. Except for a few loose rings which the music shop was unable/unwilling to alter, it plays beautifully when I use my own mouthpiece (her's is too wide for my taste and is difficult for me to produce a sound in). The instrument is from around the early-mid 50s and the shop which did the repair was VERY impressed with its quality of timbre and offered to buy it from us. I enjoyed playing it before I got my Buffet E-11 last year because until then I had only owned a Vito resitone. :-P (icky).
When I asked if anyone knew about the maker, etc. on here a while back I got mixed reviews about the quality of the instrument like you will with many makes and models of different instruments over the time they are made. (Should be in archives I believe--had a lot of info there) I personally like my grandma's, though the tone is very dark and without the "right" mouthpiece, it can be difficult to play. I have also played other clarinets that I hate that others like. To each their own! Playing is the best way to find out if you like an instrument and asking on here is frequently a good way to find out information beyond that!
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Author: OboeAgain
Date: 2008-04-17 11:41
Sorry for the crossover, but I just stumbled on this post. I am an oboist. I remember taking my Gordet oboe out to Al Laubin who at that time as at Penzel Mueller in Astoria in the late 1960s, I'd say '67 or '68. So they were still in Astoria then.
Walter
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