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Thanks to Alan Kunze from Boise, Idaho, for giving me the opportunity to review his dad’s clarinet. Ray Kunze (Alan's dad) grew up, and played the clarinet as a young person in Milwaukee.
I previously reviewed two hard rubber G. Valette clarinets, one in A and one in Bb. They were both excellent, and so it is not all that surprising that this one is very good too.
Serial #7839x The last number is illegible on both the left and right hand joints.
Barrel: 68.26mm That’s quite long!
Bore LH joint top: 14.9mm/14.75mm a few mm farther in
Bore LH joint at bottom: 14.75mm
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 0 mm at the barrel, and 0 mm at the center tenon.
Intonation summary: Truthfully, there are many Buffet R13s from this period that do not play as well in tune as this clarinet. It would be helpful to have a 66mm barrel for this clarinet, so that it could have room to push in when playing with other instruments that go sharp.
Key work quality: Typical for Couesnon in this period. The key work is not as sturdy as good quality modern clarinets.
This clarinet is most appropriate for: Anyone in Alan’s family that will value having this fine antique clarinet.
Condition issues noted: The wood is in good shape, as are the springs and they keys. No cracks were found in the wood.
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