La Monte Grenatex HR

These pictures document that La Monte was made by Martin Frères.

Actually, La Monte bought Martin Frères and continued to sometimes use the Martin name.

There was also a Martin Frères Grenetex that mentions La Monte as the second name on the horn.

The pictures above were posted before I got the opportunity to review one of these. Thanks to George C. for giving me the Grenetex model reviewed here! [May2013]

Serial #A9425

Barrel: 62.8mm

Bore LH joint top: 14.5mm

Bore LH joint at bottom: 14.5mm nickel metal sleeve the length of the left hand joint.

Intonation results taken when playing loud and not lipping. See how to interpret these results on the Model Comparison Page.

For this test, I pulled .2 at the barrel and 0 at the center tenon.

Intonation summary: Pretty good. Solid intermediate intonation. The C tuning note is a concern.

Key work quality: Sturdy enough. This was made for students. But the metal is not as hard as the best modern key work.

This clarinet is most appropriate for: Great for marching band. Some jazz players who like the Pruefer silver throat should give this a try.

Prior Condition issues noted: None.

As can be seen in the pictures, I reconditioned this clarinet using my Keep It Simple method. Five keys were not repadded. These keys would almost never be needed for marching band music, and probably not also for jazz.