I think it looks pretty much like the first horn on Steve's 'site under the heading
"The Earliest 'Modern' Noblets." In other words, a bit older than the Model 40. It's not the other Model 40s that Steve has listed because you don't have the extra screws for the posts and you don't have an additional keycup from the Stubbins models. I'd definitely recommend waiting for Steve or someone more versed in clarinets, but to me, this horn looks like the the ones that sell for
under $100 on eBay. Again, the mouthpiece
can be worth more than the horn, but I really can't tell much of anything from the description. However, if it's plastic and not hard rubber, that means "student model junk."
Here's a pic of a band on a contrabass clarinet. It's there to hold together a repair. For a nice article on pinning,
take a peek here. In a generic sense -- and you can read a
good thread here -- you don't want a banded or pinned horn because you can get a horn that can be from a little to a lot out of tune. Now, if you've got a multi-thousand-dollar clarinet, you're probably not going to want to replace it,
so you can try the band/pin first. You can even try to get an entire new joint/bell/barrel from the manufacturer.
If you play bass and contrabass clarinets, you technically play clarinet
. There are an awful lot of pitches of clarinet. I, myself, played Bb bass and Bb contrabass -- and the latter was a low C "paperclip" from Leblanc, the company that owns Noblet.
Anyhow, there is no particular need to get a Bb soprano if you don't mind lugging home either the contra or the bass. I used to. People generally stopped giving me a hard time about it after I smashed them a couple times with the case. However, if you can get the clarinet completely overhauled for around $200 and you don't have any cracks or pins -- I don't see any bands -- that'd be a good deal. However, and I mention this for completeness, if the horn was made before WWII -- a real possibility -- there is a possibility that the horn you have is high pitch. That's an intonation standard. Modern intonation is called "Low Pitch" and that's where concert A=440hz. The only way to test that is either a) play the horn with an electronic tuner and set the tuner to A=440hz. If the
majority of the notes are in tune without you having to do a lot of embochure gymnastics, it's a low pitch horn or b) put it next to most any modern clarinet. A high pitch horn will be a bit smaller in ALL dimensions.
The length of the horn, with mouthpiece, you say is around 26.25". There's a bunch of variation in clarinet models, of course, especially with the barrel. Doing a bit of Googling:
Low Pitch:
A: 27.75"
Bb: 26.5"
C: 23.5"
High Pitch:
A: 26.75"
Bb: 25.5"
C: 22.75"
As far as sinking a couple hundred into it? Well, if it's low pitch and the repairs are about $225 or less, I'd say you've got a good deal. Much more than that and I'd think about either trying to trade the horn in or sell it on eBay. A decent Yamaha wooden horn or even a plastic one in outstanding shape is pretty darn cheap on eBay -- just go with a seller with lots of positive feedback and understand you'll probably need at least $100 for adjustment when you get it. Personally, I'd rather have a decent clarinet -- I've had a couple Selmer Signets, a Normandy, a couple Buffet student/intermediate horns (one was the one with the clear body), and a Selmer Centered Tone (old pro horn) -- and a really good mouthpiece.