New but old Clarinet!

Oldgrump

Hello, after wishing to learn to play the clarinet all my life, I finally decided to do something about it.

As well as wanting to learn the instrument, apparently playing a wind instrument is good exercise for the lungs, something I would benefit from.

First step of course was to get one. I read up on quite a bit, including the advice not to get a wooden one, as they are harder to play, but seem to sound better. But I love wood, so deliberately looked for a cheap wood one - after all, since I've never played one before, I've nothing to compare it too, so I won't know that's it's potentially more difficult to master!

I made a silly offer for one on eBay, and £25 later it was mine. It was a bit grim looking...but yet...all the pads were in place, internal examination showed no cracks, damage or mould, and all the keys work. An evening spent cleaning has resulted in a very handsome instrument. The metal keys are a little tarnished in places. The mouth piece is ivory coloured, and a soak in steriliser removed the suspect staining - nice.

eBay provided cork grease, and some Rico 1.5 reeds to start.

I can't read music and don't really want to, I played recorder as youngster so the finger holes aren't too difficult to master. After a few squeeks, some notes were produced!

The tone is lovely - it sounds rich and warm, I'm well pleased.

I think it's very old, possibly made of grenadillo wood? Some of the parts are stamped "made in England", wish I could find out more about it.

Any tips on how to age it welcome!
 
If you post some pics and also give the serial number it would help identity your instrument. The advice you were given about wood instruments being harder to play is wrong. As long as the instrument is set up properly it doesn't much matter what its made of.
 
"Grenadilla."
bpimentel said:
In biological terms, it isn't rare OR dying out; it's only the large, straight specimens (those best suited to instrument-making) that are being overharvested. This presumably could lead to some genetic bottlenecking, resulting in even fewer large, straight trees in the future.
Click to expand...
Just wanted to mention this to OP because "wooden clarinet" doesn't automatically = "old", but OP may have read that grenadilla is becoming rare. Rubber, plastic, and various metals also don't necessarily mean that the horn is old.

"Old" also doesn't mean "vintage".

Per Tony's post,

www.woodwindforum.com

Help US to Help YOU

Update on July 15, 2010: I've decided that we should sticky this, as several folks have come by in the past week asking what make/model horn they have and how much it's worth. Bottom line, without good pics of your horn, any estimate of the make/model of your horn, it's current value or how...
www.woodwindforum.com www.woodwindforum.com
 
One other thing. While I have no problem if all you want to do is kick back and play a bit of clarinet, like Ferris Bueller (See? I'm old), it is very difficult to unlearn bad habits. Do a bit of research and see if there's an instructor in your area. This should be easy to do if there's a college or university near you. Grab a lesson or two. You don't even have to learn how to read music.
 
Oh, and the matching serial numbers are 129375. A previous post with pictures is awaiting moderators approval.
 
The Selmer Sterling was made for Selmer by (I think) Malerne. It was a student/intermediate model, probably dates from the late 40's or 50's.
 
Oldgrump, when I returned to music after a ~25 break, I bought a $50 bass from a pawn shop. I used to play it against recordings on YouTube on weekends. (I was still working at the time.) My aim was to improve on my timing. I liked it so much that I started playing my other instruments against recordings to see if I could find anything interesting to make of the music. Good luck on your musical explorations.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom