CLARINETS DIRECT

020 8893 3172 or 07787 770071

PAIR OF SELMER, PARIS, VINTAGE FULL BOEHM CLARINETS, £1595

An exceptionally rare and fine pair of vintage Selmer clarinets. These instruments are a commission sale for Clarinets Direct, their current owner is a collector. As Full Boehm instruments they feature all the extras: Fork Eb/Bb, alternative LH Ab/Eb, articulated C#/G#, and low Eb.
The Bb has matching serial numbers 8369, which probably dates to late 1930. This was the point at which Selmer began to stamp their clarinets with the more modern logo. The clarinet has been recently fully overhauled in fish skin pads, all of which are in fine condition. For Vintage instruments the grenadilla wood is in very good condition. There is only one small stress crack, which has been glued, and is in fact very common with this type of Full Boehm design. Because the upper tenon of the lower joint is metal lined, often a crack occurs between the top two tone holes of this joint where the wood is very thin. Fortunately the crack is cosmetic only, as the metal lining seals the tenon. Apart from this there are only light surface marks. The German silver keywork is in very good condition throughout. The design is slightly different to the "A", most noticeably in the much longer G# key barrel, and the fact that the LH levers have only 2 pillars on the A as against 3 on the Bb. Interestingly the bells of both instruments feature the later 1930's logo. It is possible therefore, that the bell for the A clarinet is a replacement.
The A has matching serial numbers K1725. Early Selmer serial numbers are difficult to date reliably, it is likely however, that this instrument pre-dates the Bb by at least 3 years. The clarinet is also stamped " Brevette SGDG". There is no damage to the wood, which is crack and repair free. The German Silver key work is also in good order throughout. As with the Bb all pads are nearly new fish skin & are sealing well. The case is an original Pouchette leather example from the 1920's in excellent used condition, which has been partly relined. The m'piece is a used Selmer B.