Please help me with information on a Preufer clarinet. The upper joint has the Preufer logo and name and further markings of Silver Throat Deluxe and the serial number 517xx. This same number appears on the other parts as well. So is this trash or treasure and is it worth restoring (@ about $150.00)? It is plastic/composite/damphino and built like a tank, very heavy construction on the body. The keywork is all in good shape. The cork and pads will need replacing.
Pruefer Silver Throat information???
- Thread starter wanabe
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If it is a Silver Throat Deluxe, the clarinet is hard rubber and has a coin silver insert in the upper joint bore. If it were a deluxe it might sell for $200 in near perfect condition. How is the case? I think the real value in this instrument would be if you wanted to play it. I'm not sure it will fetch much, but I have been wrong before. This one on ebay is set for a buy it now of $155. There is also one there available for $65.
Nope, no insert, but the logo and name on it are the same as on the one that you pointed out on E-Bay except that the bell on mine does not have the "Silver Throat" in script on it. I supose that my bell could be a replacement, but the missing insert? That's what confuses me. The upper joint on mine has the identical logo and name on it that the E-Bay horn has on its bell. Could the insert be molded in? I don't think that it was removed because both ends of the the bore of the upper jont measure 14.9mm. Thats pretty close to an accurate measurement I think, but I'm not a machinist, and the lower end of the lower joint is just over 21mm. Those sound to me to be pretty normal bore measurements. T answer your question though. The case is a replacement. The body and keywork are in good condition. The pads and corks all need repalceing. I figure for the $30.00 + $15.00 postage that I paid for it I should get a decent horn to learn on. This one I didn't buy to flip. All in all I think that I'll have about $150.00 invested in it. I also have a second clarinet that I bought for the same reason. Please see my posting under "Couesnon Monopole".
Eureka!! I stumbled around a few other sites and ran across a posting that mentioned a silver throat with a cupro-nickle insert rather than the coin silver inset. I then looked much closer at my silver throat and after a little prodding with a dental explorer found that this is exactly what I had. The copper based metal had aged and discolored to perfectly match the hard rubber around it. So, mystery solved!
I had the Pruefer Silver Throat Deluxe in addition to a non Deluxe and also a Malerne with a silver insert many moons ago.
I found that the Deluxe had small upper joint toneholes in it's design compared to the other two. I did a writeup of them at some point, somewhere.
It was a nice student instrument once setup nicely.
I found that the Deluxe had small upper joint toneholes in it's design compared to the other two. I did a writeup of them at some point, somewhere.
It was a nice student instrument once setup nicely.
Steve, thanks for your input it is helpful as always. In the various postings that I have read I get the impression that the Silver Throat is a big bore clarinet, in fact a VERY BIG BORE clarinet and that it is eminently suitable for jazz. You mentioned the "non deluxe" model. I also remember reading that the deluxe model introduced a change in the dimensions, it became a little bit longer in both the upper and lower joints. Is this in fact a good jazz instrument? My horn is definitely of an earlier vintage than those with the coin silver insert as is evidenced by the serial number. Do you have any idea of when it was changed from the cupro-nickel insert to the coin silver inset? With a number of clarinet models, "earlier is better", i.e. some Selmers. Is that true concerning the Silver Throat?