Selmer Paris Recital Eb and LeBlanc Opus C - help needed

danersen

Hello,
My name is Dan, and for the last decade, I have been involved with several colleagues in a music therapy project of sorts. As healthcare professionals for whom music has been a life-long avocation, this project was therapeutic both for us and for our patients. However, the time has come for other pursuits and initiatives, so this collaboration is ending. Consequently, I will no longer be needing or playing two wonderful clarinets.
The clarinets are a Selmer Paris Recital Eb and a LeBlanc Opus C. Both clarinets and their cases are in mint as-new condition — no exaggeration — as I am the original owner and only player of these fine instruments.
Here are the specifics: Selmer Paris Recital Eb, NO7456, ~2002-2003, and LeBlanc Opus C, model LE1190CS, 81587, ~2005. Both were typically played twice weekly for 60-90 minutes.
All cork, pads, and tenons in excellent condition, proper action, plating as-new without tarnish or discoloration, no cracks, splits, chips, nicks, or scratches. In short – no issues whatsoever.
Now, I have no proper understanding of the current (resale) value of these clarinets. So, I am posting here with hopes that individual expertise and collective wisdom among this community may be able to assist me in determining a value that is mutually fair both to a potential buyer and to me as a seller.
It is my impression that these clarinets are now somewhat uncommon instruments if – as I've been told – it is true that there are actually no production pro-level C instruments being made these days (including the Opus C or a Selmer C) , and that a Selmer Eb is a rather pricey special order with a lengthy wait these days. Perhaps, this is – or isn't – the case. This type of uncertainty is indicative of why I have come here.
However, common or uncommon, I can't help but wonder if there are very many used ones in the fine condition that these are in.
I will very much appreciate anyone's willingness to share their perspectives, provide information, or offer advice with respect to the appropriate value of these clarinets and how to best inform potentially interested parties of their availability.
I believe that I have properly followed the guidelines, and have placed photos in the gallery under albums named Selmer Recital Eb and LeBlanc Opus C.
The result of my eBay search appear below
Be Well,
Dan

eBay Sold Search Results – nothing of substance
Only one of potential comparable relevance.
BUFFET CLARINET- R-13- KEY OF C- OUTSTANDING, NEW CONDITION.
serial # 272489, BC-1631, Year of manufacture: 6/13/85, Key: C, R-13 Model.
Sold @ US$2875 with 43 bids and 16 bidders.

New Patricola C and Eb models, and a couple of lesser quality Eb's.
 
Your C instrument has the traditional "C clarinets are shrill!" argument working against it. Nonetheless, there are those willing to buck the tradition, particularly those who concentrate on Russian music from the Romantic Period. Your market is limited, yet eBay cuts across all clarinet players and you are likely to find a buyer there.

Leblanc horns, even Opus ones, are not my cup of tea. The Buffet Mafia would also look down on such an instrument, but there are those who are not troubled by playing Leblanc instruments. That subset of clarinet players is somewhat limiting, but the market is still there.

View this problem as a Venn diagram. You've got your universe of clarinet players. Viewed as a subset of the population as a whole, it's a small blob, but you get what you get. Of that universe, there is a group that would want a C clarinet - a much smaller group, with the cost of purchase versus the need for such an instrument determining the subgroup. Of that group, you have a much smaller group that would be willing to step outside of the Buffet world to own such an instrument.

The intersection of the three blobs makes for a very small group indeed. Luckily, eBay allows you access to that portion of the group willing to buy thereon. You've got a reasonable starting price with the Buffet sale; adjust for the Leblanc name and list away.

Most clarinet players, even those hereon, will never use a C instrument. Aside from the rarity/expense issues, there is that perception that the C instrument is shrill. I don't agree - properly played, it's just a higher pitch instrument that clarinet players (but not listeners) perceive as shrill because they are used to a particular pitch when fingering a particular note on the Bb - on the C, the unexpected higher pitch with the same fingering as on the Bb drives that perception. It works the opposite way with the A clarinet - players think it is more "mellow", a perception also not shared by listeners.

When I was in college, a group of clarinet players assembled a test to check out this perception. We had access to tons of Bb instruments, a smattering of A instruments, and one lone (see below) C instrument. Using carefully chosen passages, all of which were transposed and printed out for practice purposes, each player took a shot at playing (in random order, and on random instruments) the selections from behind a screen while the others sat in judgement, selecting either "Bb clarinet", "A clarinet", "C clarinet" or "Cannot tell" on their score cards.

The only instrument that was consistently chosen correctly was the C horn, a fact that some attributed to the lack of familiarity with the tighter spacing of the key work to most of the player. For what it was worth, I was able to confuse everyone when I played the C horn, due to what you read below.

I had the use of a Buffet C clarinet for a year when I "attended" (more properly, it might be said that I "lodged" there) Drury College, in the then-hicksville town of Springfield MO. (The place then had 100,000 in population, 101 churches and zero synagogs - not an overly diverse community.) While neglecting my studies in liberal arts (I hated the place, what with its non-transferrable credit hours and the sidewalks that were rolled up at 6:00 PM every day), I managed to play in two local orchestras, rising to principal clarinet in one of them. The C horn came from an unremembered source, but I grew to enjoy it, as one of the musical directors had a Russian music fetish. Playing that ornamented music without the burden of transposition was a real treat.

Now, for the Selmer horn. The same diagrams apply: clarinet players, clarinet players willing to step outside of the Buffet world, clarinet players making the cost of purchase versus need determination. However, while C clarinets are generally only of interest to classical players. Eb instruments will also take in the much larger group of band players, where the Eb clarinet is an infrequent participant due mostly to rarity. So, the one Venn blob (cost versus need) will be a bit larger.

But, that's the beauty of an auction. If you set a starting price that's fair and reasonable, the market will do the rest of the work for you.

(Here's one data point for you: I love Selmer Recital instruments, own a passel of clarinets, and have enough money that I could "Buy It Now" if I wanted to. But, there's just no call for an Eb horn in most music, so I'm going to pass.)

Since both instruments are of "pro" grade, a look at list prices for modern instruments of the type should give you a decent idea what to propose. Allow something for the "non-Buffet" nature of the instruments, set a reserve price, and watch the bidding begin.
 
Hello,
Just following up - I decided to donate these clarinets to the symphony orchestra earlier this year.
Be Well,
Dan
 
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