LeBlanc Symphonie
- Thread starter RCNELSON
- Start date
on that auction site they normally run in the $3-400s - so $260 is a very good price.
Keep in mind the age of the clarinet, from the 1950s or 60s so if it's been sitting for a while it will probably need an overhaul.
The symphonies are a very nice clarinet. My favorite is actually the Symphonie - i had one here with silver plated keys .. nice, centered tone, easy to play, well in-tune.
Keep in mind the age of the clarinet, from the 1950s or 60s so if it's been sitting for a while it will probably need an overhaul.
The symphonies are a very nice clarinet. My favorite is actually the Symphonie - i had one here with silver plated keys .. nice, centered tone, easy to play, well in-tune.
The only thing that I do not like about modern (post 1970) Leblanc instruments is the "feel" of them in my hands. Leblanc keywork has always felt "cluncky" and awkward in my hands, and the sopranos moreso than the bass (on which I had quite a bit of experience during the early 1970's).
Leblanc seemed to be driven by a desire to be "different" in as many ways as possible. Innovations like the "rounds bombes" (domed rather than peaked key cups) look more like something thought up by Detroit during the 1950's than a serious "improvement" to the instrument.
Early Leblanc horns seemed to wear out quickly. I've only known five or six owners of same back in the days of my youth, and all of their horns (pro models without exception, not a Normandie in the bunch) clacked and popped more than an old bassoon. This is a maintenance issue, of course, but the fact that all of them did it was significant in my eyes. I don't know if the newer ones are prone to this, since I don't play in any groups where anyone uses Leblanc horns any longer.
Leblanc seemed to be driven by a desire to be "different" in as many ways as possible. Innovations like the "rounds bombes" (domed rather than peaked key cups) look more like something thought up by Detroit during the 1950's than a serious "improvement" to the instrument.
Early Leblanc horns seemed to wear out quickly. I've only known five or six owners of same back in the days of my youth, and all of their horns (pro models without exception, not a Normandie in the bunch) clacked and popped more than an old bassoon. This is a maintenance issue, of course, but the fact that all of them did it was significant in my eyes. I don't know if the newer ones are prone to this, since I don't play in any groups where anyone uses Leblanc horns any longer.
I mentioned elsewhere that I did a good deal of research, at one time, on Leblanc keywork patents. I also owned and played several Leblanc-made intruments, from a Normandy wooden Bb clarinet, to a Leblanc paperclip contrabass clarinet to a Beaugnier-made Vito tenor (and several others).
The keywork is ... overbuilt. Kinda kewl from an engineering standpoint, but not that lovely from a player's perspective.
IMO, and based on some advertisements, the selling points of the Leblanc instruments has generally been "good/outstanding intonation" (as with the Leblanc System saxophones) and "interesting keywork" (like ... the Leblanc System saxophones). They also traded on big names that played their horns (Johnny Hodges, f'r instance, and Pete Fountain), but no one's ever accused Leblanc of having the nicest keywork or mechanisms.
And Leblanc's patents on clarinet keywork found its way to their saxophones and vice-versa.