Mystery Instrument

Poststructural Pub
1

The secretary in the philosophy department showed me
an old German instrument her late uncle used to play.
It seems to be from about 1900.

It’s a super sopranino clarinet, with Boehm keys, seven
open holes on the front and a thumb hole on the back.
Its grenadilla, the keys are nickel, it was made carefully.
I took it to a repairwoman, who told me she thinks its
in the key of D. Fixing it up would cost 200 dollars,
but we would still have to find a way to fabricate
a new mouthpiece, because, as far as she knows,
nobody makes these anymore. Also we would need
to fabricate a reed. She said it’s a nice instrument.

Well, the secretary doesn’t play anything, and I doubt
that she is going to put 200 into this; also we would
still have to get a new mouthpiece (the old one, wood,
is shot).

So what does one do? How about collectors? How
does one contact such people? Any advice welcome.
It’s a bit too nice just to throw away.

2

Antiques Roadshow?

3

first find a repairman who works on symphony player’s axes. as for mouthpieces, eb sopranos are readily available. if it’s an ab sopranino, look here: http://www.gleblanc.com/instruments/query.cfm?model=1176AbS are you sure that it’s a boehm system? there are albert system instruments too but the mouthpiece is the same.

4

Seems like a natural for Ebay. Someone with the talent and tools to work on it and some time might buy it as a fixer-upper. I’m sure there will be bids, though it may go fairly cheap with all the work it needs. With decent photos, the story, and full disclosure, there is a good chance it will find a home.

5

The repairwoman said it’s Boehm. She guessed
it’s a D–but I don’t know. Must measure it.
Thanks for all this good advice, everybody.