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Wanting to find out more about my Selmer Paris Bass Clarinet

Greetings;

New to this forum and came to see if anyone can help me find out more about my Selmer Paris Bass clarinet. A little history about the instrument is that it was purchased back in 1982. Put a lot of hours on it and it took me far, paying for my first few years of college with music scholarships. As my professional interests went 180 degrees from music, I packed her up and hauled her with me through many a move and many a mile, oiling her frequently but haven't played in many a year. Pulled her out of the closet the other day and interested in knowing more about the old gal that took me so far a long time ago.

Have tried to look up a serial number chart to see what the manufacturing date is which may also indicate model and approximate worth, but so far am not finding what I am looking for. Which is how I found my way to this forum...

The insignia is defnitely a Selmer Paris. Can't make out the top word, the bottom is definitely "France". The serial number is 3 characters. The first is definitely a number "6". The second character is either an "I" or a "Z" and the last is a "3". She's in great shape and finding myself wondering if, after this many years, I can still do her justice.

Any help appreciated and a thank you for your time!!
 
a few pictures of the above Selmer Paris Bass clarinet

clarinet1.JPGclarinet2.JPGclarinet3.JPGclarinet4.JPGclarinet5.JPGclarinet6.JPG
 
I can say, and I'm pretty positive, you have a bass clarinet.

:D

Anyhow, if you can, please provide some larger pictures. For me, at least. I'm old.

In the mid 1980s, I played a lot of bass clarinet. The other bass clarinet player had a Selmer and the neck looked identical, IIRC.
 
I think it might be a Model 31. I saw someone selling one that looked a lot like your horn on a different website and he called it a Model 31 (FWIW, it was in better shape and he got $1900 for it). At least, the necks matched. SOTSDO or SteveSklar are much better people to ask. I haven't seen Steve in awhile, but I think SOTSDO might come by if I say "alto clarinet" three times in a row ....

There might be another number someplace else on the horn. Unless the horn is really old -- we're talking 1920s and your horn's not from that period because of the Selmer logo used -- the serial number starts with a letter.
 
It nas a one pice, reinforced neck, which would put it before the 1960s. But, it has the auxiliary Ab/Eb lever for the left little finger, and the modern peg screw, which makes me think it's from the 1960s.

It's also the first Selmer (Paris) horn that I've ever seen where a two joint horn is carried assembled. I've seen this with Leblanc instruments, including one where the tenon was snapped off by.the weight of the top joint "shocking" the join when set down roughly. If this were my horn, I'd lose the "one piece" case tout sweet.

As for the serial number, I haven't a clue. The number just doesn't line up with any of the dozens of Selmer (Paris) horns that I've seen. Was the horn an "off the shelf" purchase, or was it made to some custom order?
 
Thank you again Pete and SOTSDO;

Horn was purchased back in 1983 from a music store in Missoula, MT. No idea the history behind it, but gathered me a few music scholarships and paid for a few years of college. Where else might one find the serial number? That is the only number I have seen stamped on the horn. Will take a closer look tomorrow. Any other pictures that I can get for you that might help?
 
Serial numbers can be in very odd places. You can check on the end of each tenon, underneath a key (no, not in the tonehole, the actual key), on the body under a group of keys, and, my favorite, underneath the cork on a tenon. Not that I want you to remove the cork, that is. Selmer Paris saxophones occasionally have a partial serial number scratched inside the neck, so you might want to take a little flashlight and see if there's anything in there.

==============

Statement/question. From my reading, the Model 31 came out in the mid-1960s and the Series 9 Bb soprano came out in 1960. I saw a couple folks referring to the bass clarinet that was around in the late 1950s to 1960 as a "Model 30/Series 9." Ever see anything like that, SOTSDO?
 
Well...

Until the recent revelations hereon, I had always been led to believe that there was no such thing as a Series 9 bass clarinet. With someone disproving that belief, all I can say now "I dunno 'bout dat." (I'm in the car, traveling through Louisiana at the current time.)

Who knows what was going on in Paris at that point. Selmer has shown on a number of occasions that they're not willing to share like Leblanc used to do, and with all of the 'reorg' going on now (I mean, really - Steinway running things? Get real.…) we're not likely to find out.

I lost my only contact with the firm a few years ago (due to a Newton system crash and burn), so I don't have a in any longer.

What we do know that it's a) a Selmer horn, placed in b) an uncharacteristic (for Selmer, at least) case, with c) a one piece neck and d) a weird serial number. Perhaps one of our repair person members (who has seen a series of basses pass over the bench) can chime in as to any similar horns that they have seen.
 
SOTSDO;

was just reviewing posts and wanted to clarify a piece of your response from 11/28 where you wrote "It's also the first Selmer (Paris) horn that I've ever seen where a two joint horn is carried assembled". I assume this means carried as "in the case" (excuse my ignorance on the verbiage). It is actually a four piece instrument. The two tonals, the neck and the bell. Was put together and laid across the case merely for pictures. All pieces and parts fit very nicely within it's case making me think case and horn came together (as opposed to case being and after-market).

Kim
 
Pete;

My CSI skills are kicking in and I am going bit by bit to see what I can find for you...

On the bottom tonal, near where the bell would attach is a second Selmer insignia. Similar to the one pictured, but smaller. Just superior to that (above) is another number, underneath a set of keys which is "1652" then what COULD be a C2, but honestly looks more like an Omega symbol. Now then, if we were to view the top tonal in the position it would be in when played, the mysterious "serial number" could be something else...what I previously reported as a "6I (or z)3" magically becomes either an "S" or an "E" 79

And a picture for SOTSDO showing her all snug in her bed...

IMG_0935.JPG
 
Well, if you said "S1652," that would put the horn at 1960/61, which would be great for our theories. A "Z" serial number would put the horn in the late 1970s. All the pics of bass clarinets I've seen from the 1970s have the two-piece neck (a modern example). An "E" serial number would be early 1990s and, again, they have the two-piece neck.
 
Oh, the earlier photos showed the assembled horn laid across the case. The framing of the earlier photos obscured this for me on my laptop's monitor/screen. That's a lot more like the Selmer (Paris) style that I've seen over the past fifty years or so.

My bad…
 
If it helps, my Selmer Paris bass clarinet is marked Series 9. The serial number is S77XX. It is exactly like the pictured instrument except mine has the tunable neck and an adjusting screw on the F#-G# bridge piece,
 
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