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Rare Boosey & Hawkes Majestic worth a look

Hi all, I have had this clarinet for quite some time and it has been up for sale but I end up keeping it, I am a fairly poor player of sax and clarinet but some instruments I hold dear because they sound so beautiful, this is one of them, as far as I can find out it was made my Eugen Schuster although research advised that Eugen did not actually make any clarinets and had them stencilled - so that must have been by Wurlitzer-right only I read somewhere that this was also a name used by them? Someone please help me on this!!

Ok, the clarinet is a unibody or one piece, has plateau keys and is the closest clarinet I have had that is somewhat similar to a sax- or at least, you could see why a saxophonist would fine it easier to play than say a Boehm. This is Oehler and Albert and well, make your own minds up, it is very unusual and I believe probably now one of a kind left as in 5 years I have never come across anything else like it with the Boosey London name. The last two photographs show the Majestic stamp on the clarinet and the other from a Eugen Schuster tenor sax.

I have overhauled it and used Pisoni premium leather pads.. it really does sound lovely for its age.





Boosey Majestic Schuster B (1).JPG Boosey Majestic Schuster Bb (1a).JPG Boosey Majestic Schuster Bb (8).JPG Boosey Majestic Schuster Bb (9).JPG Boosey Majestic Schuster Bb (7).JPG Schuster Majestic Sax.jpg
 
Hmm, while I don't know who made it, it's certainly an interesting horn.
It's neither an Oehler nor Albert, though-it's one of the multitude of horns made before ww2 that were keyed in an imitation of the saxophone's keywork, you can see this in the way the right hand keys are set up-you'd have a key between RH 1 and RH2, rather than above the two of them, if it was an Albert or Oehler.4
Also-as far as I know, R. Wurlitzer, the wurlitzer who you're talking about with the majestic name, never made any wind instruments themselves; all of the instruments with their name on it are stencils of other brands.
Are you saying its a B&H or just Boosey and Co? You used both names in your post, and I can't make out the name on the clarinet, as you only provided pictures of the majestic logo.
 
I can see "Boosey & Hawkes" on the bell and top "joint."

How about, "Made by Boosey & Hawkes for Eugen Schuster"? We all know that B&H made clarinets. We seem to agree that Eugen Schuster didn't make clarinets.

There's an exceedingly long, sometimes contradictory, and occasionally ... mmmm ... "not nice" discussion about these particular horns here. The conclusion seems to be that it's a half Boehm/half Oehler plateau ("gedeckelt" means "capped") clarinet. Or something like that. I do agree that the "caps" would support the assertion that saxophone players and/or folks with limited hand mobility might prefer these kinds of horns.

Check out the B&H stuff we have here. That might give you a bit more info.

As far as Rudolph Wurlitzer ... I really don't think so. I had a Wurlitzer-branded alto sax from the 1920s. It was a Conn stencil, IIRC. I don't see any data saying that Wurlitzer made any woodwinds.
 
Hi and Thank you for your replies, it is really appreciated, firstly, when I was speaking of Wurlitzer i was relating to Herbert or Fritz and not Rudolph from the US, however, it was merely a thought I had due to Schuster only having stencils and due to it being called Majestic this was also used by one of the European Wurltizer's. Perhaps we shall never know and I have looked at countless of clarinets in similar form and have not found one identical, I find the incredibly frustrating! I have also just read your link and see where some do become rather well.... I originally had it up for sale as a Sax fingered clarinet and our most wonderful Milandro has said otherwise over on Sotw. So when I have it up for sale it makes me look a bit silly- and I should know my stuff by now as have been dealing in vintage for approx six years, I would however really appreciate someone whom is that knowledgeable to pull me up and tell me precisely what I have :D

Yes regards the Rudolph Wurlitzer saxes, I never came across one made by Conn, only Martin or Buescher and the latter are fairly rare as far as I am aware, but I am only going by hearsay, I do not like treading on toes or even getting it wrong but when you deal in such unusual instruments I tend to feel like i am walking on thin ice, thank heavens for the likes of Helen with what she is doing regards stencil saxes, now we just need someone to do the same with clarinets- or all the other woodwind and then brass.....hmmm

Here we are, the impressed name which is rather unusual due to having no logo at all!
Boosey_Majestic_Schuster_Bb_(5)[1].JPG Boosey_Majestic_Schuster_Bb_(6)[1].JPG
 
Rudolph Wurlitzer was German and had a factory in Germany -- Saxony, IIRC. However, he founded his company in the US. I hadn't heard of a Fritz or Herbert, so I learned my new things for the day!

Anyhow, you could try https://wurlitzerklarinetten.de and e-mail them. They might have further info, but I think relating your horn to a third company is an unnecessary level of complexity.

My toes hurt. Don't step on them. :D I've gotten much more laid back as I've gotten older. My wife will attest to that. I can have my moments. Generally it means that I need some more of my pain pills.

@Steve might have some info to help, but he's got a very busy life. I'm a former clarinet player with some knowledge of some clarinets. It's amazing how many fingering systems are out there.
 
Langwills Index refers to Eugen Schuster only as an agent for Buescher, not as a maker. This might account for the "Aristocrat" mark, as this was used by Buescher. As to the clarinet, if it is marked B & H then they probably made it. I know they made unibody Eb clarinets, but I'm not sure if they made the larger Bb and A instruments as such. What key is this instrument in?
 
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