Olds Parisian Ambassador alto saxophone

Here's a good old French made horn.  These Parisian Ambassadors were made for Olds by a small French company called Pierret.   I've seen a number of these, and they've always been good.  The keywork is modern, they're well built,  and they have a nice sound,  you might say that "French" sound.  

This particular instrument came to me with a badly pulled down neck, boo!  I had to remove the neck brace,  re-bend the neck to proper angle, then remove the dent/crease that the pulling down left.  After de-scaling the neck (it was filthy) I had to expand the tenon a bit to fit the socket for a perfect seal.

The pads on this horn looked almost new,  I didn't need to do much other than go over it to check on bent keys and regulation. 

A little bit of added regulation/silencing material, a new bumper for the low Bb,  and some dent work all around,  and this horn is ready to go!  I've just been playing it side by side with an old Pan American alto,  I really like them both although they have their differences for sure.  

One thing to note is these Olds Parisian Ambassadors are fairly common and can be had cheaply.  If you're looking for a decent beginner/intermediate horn or a backup horn for your main axe, you can't really go wrong.  I can't say I've had a single issue with the repairs of these horns and they seem sturdy and whats more, they sound great!

Good old Pan American alto saxophone

I love the value in the old "stencil" saxophones.  For a fraction of the price you get an instrument that is often times almost as good as the name brand instrument.  In this case we have a Pan American, usually made by Conn ( I say usually because I have in the shop a Pan Am tenor that was certainly made by Martin).

This alto is post WWII based on the same side bell keys.  The original lacquer is very much intact,  little wear.  There are a few, very few, teeny dings but really this baby is clean!  There is some keywork wear, I'm imagining this horn didn't have a mechanical overhaul anytime recently,  but the wear is minimal enough, and the horn plays very very well.

This horn needed little to make it shine.  Its one of those times where you get a horn, play it,  and then wonder can I even make this any better?  Sometimes I can,  but not always! I mean yeah,  if you fully overhauled this horn it would be taken to the next level,  but this horn played so well on the current pads.  This one needed a new felt bumper for the low C, some minor regulation,  and the neck was loose so I expanded the tenon for a perfect fit. 

The case I'm not sure is original, maybe?  It did come with the original white Pan Am mouthpiece which unfortunately has some cracks in the shank and needs repaired/banded.

One note,  after finishing what work I had to do,  the low register D was not speaking well.  Something was going on,  it was minimal but really the D, even though its known to be a problem note on some older horns,  at least needs to be up to a certain level for it to sound good in the context of notes surrounding it.  

The fix was simple,  the new felt I put on the low C was not allowing the D to vent properly,  once the venting was increased,  problem solved!  

Another Kohlert clarinet

I love the old Kohlert clarinets.  I haven't worked on anything yet from after they moved to Germany but I've had the pleasure of repairing and playing a number of the Bohemian/Czech instruments.

This clarinet in the pic is a Bb clarinet in typical Boehm system keywork.  I was tickled that this one had the original case and mouthpiece, which is always nice.  Also check out the matching green swab,  maybe original?

You may notice (or not) that this clarinet is made of ebonite (or hard rubber, if you prefer).  I love hard rubber instruments because they sound great,  don't have the issues that wood instruments have with temperature/humidity,  and the toneholes are far more likely to be in good shape which means making a pad seat well is much easier!  

This clarinet plays really well on the white leather pads it came with.  I had to replace a few key corks,  adjust the bridge key and crow's foot, and clean the body.  Now its looking for a new home!  I'm really happy with how this instrument plays,  honestly its a GREAT old horn!

Well well, what do we have here?  This showed up last week and I was very excited to receive it. This is an alto clarinet made by Kohlert that features a metal body, not very common!  I've had the pleasure of working on a fine old Kohlert alto last year so I know these are made well.

The left hand pinky F/C key lever is broken,  which I didn't know before I bought it (seller didn't know and I didn't see it in the pics).  This can be re fabricated.  For me personally, having quite a history in playing Albert clarinets,  not having the duplicate F/C lever is not a big deal.

Also the thumbrest snapped which will have to be resoldered.  Other than that it needs a plain old overhaul and it will be amazing!

One thing about alto clarinets, I always like playing them but there's something about the fulcrum with the right hand and strap hook that I don't like,  when it get to the upper part of the keywork with my left and the instrument wants to fall forward and pull the mouthpiece out of my mouth!  I've had this happen on other altos,  its a bummer.  I wonder if having a long floor peg would solve the issue.

Oh I should mention the mouthpiece that came with this,  although unmarked and very rubbery smelling,  plays like a dream!   Its always nice to have an instrument that comes with a mouthpiece that's well suited for it.

Well now that I've talked about this horn for a bit,  I think I'll go play it some more!

The difference a reed makes!

Well I just posted recently about a fine old Laube clarinet in the key of A that I had finished working on.
I was initially very excited about this clarinet when I got it,  I hardly ever get to work on "A" clarinets and I also tend to adore the old French instruments.   This one was unplayable before I refurbished it but when I finally had a chance to play it.......I have to admit I was a little disappointed.   I noted in the posting I made about the instrument that it has a small bore and it played with some resistance.   I chalked up the resistance to this and called it done,  knowing that the clarinet was as leak free as could be and there wasn't any other reason it didn't play as freely as I'd like it to.
Today I got to thinking about something,  the reed.   Now I just bought a new box of clarinet reeds recently,  some Gonzalez' in 2.5.   I've used Gonzalez in the past and liked them, I can't remember what strength I used previously but up until now I was just using up some old Rico reeds that were quite soft.  I wondered,  was the reed the issue?  I had tried different mouthpieces but not different reeds.   A light bulb went off,  I tried one of the old/almost worn out Ricos that were soft at the tip....and WOWZER!!  The clarinet sings like a dream!   It turns out these Gonzalez reeds, although marked 2.5,  play a lot stiffer than I would expect a 2.5 to play.  Oh well,  live and learn.  I'm just happy this clarinet plays as well as I knew it could!

Laube Paris clarinet, key of A

Here's a neat old clarinet I just finished up.  It is marked Laube Paris and should not be confused with the semi common PX Laube, which was a trade name used by importers for stencil clarinets.  As far as I can tell this Laube was a Parisian firm from waaaaaay back.   

This clarinet was well made,  the wood is nice and dense, the keywork is well wrought and the plating is nice.  Luckily this one was not played much,  the keys were across the board tight and unworn........no mechanical overhaul needed.  Of course there were various other issues that needed addressing but nothing major.  

The wood is crack free but the barrel and bell have some scratching from some previous abuse.

The bore is quite narrow at 14.6mm.   This would have been fairly common for an old French clarinet.   What I find with these is a very centered mellow tone that is quite resistant.  

Also to note with this clarinet is that its in the key of A,  which I don't see too often.    It also sports the wraparound register key which many old clarinets have.  

All in all this is a fine old clarinet,  it will surely make someone happy!

Here's a quick pick of the updated workshop,  its a cozy little nook in the basement but at this point I feel like I have just enough room,  its nice!  I don't think you can see all the horns on the shelves but at this point there are 12 saxophones and probably just as may clarinets that I will be going over.   These are all personally owned and will be re-homed once completed.

On the bench in this pic is a 1920's HN White King alto which is satin gold plated and has a smashing engraving to boot.  I'm waiting for some pads up to complete this project, but surely I'll be updating here once I'm done with this horn.   Even right now it plays pretty well,  honestly its a smokin' horn!! The neck was pulled down a bit and therefore the neck to neck socket fit was loose and leaking.  I spent some time re-rounding the socket and then expanding the neck tenon for a perfect fit.  Once about 1/4 of the pads are replaced and some adjustments are made this baby will be ready to go!!

Super rare and cool Conn 79H trombone!

Well folks here's  a really neat one.  I love trombones.  Don't get me started.  I've owned quite a number over the years, especially old Conns which I tend to adore.

This model I've never seen before in person,  and knew very little about.  Its a Conn 79H from 1967, they only made these for a few years.  It features an 8" bell and medium bore of .522" with F trigger. Very much a professional horn and sought after by those in the know as an excellent all around trombone.

It sounds very sweet!  This one played well too, the slide was in good shape.  Some minor cosmetic wear and a sluggish valve were the only bad things you could say about it.  I'm not set up to really take trombones too far so I sold this one as is to a very happy customer!   I'm actually really glad I didn't have too much time to spend playing it, as I was worried I might fall in love!