Leblanc L7

Many thanks to Gary Kern for giving me the opportunity to review this clarinet.

Serial #35371

Barrel: 66 mm but because of the missing ring I am testing this with a 66.2mm Noblet N barrel. //Second check with 64mm barrel.

Bore LH joint top: 14.8 mm

Bore LH joint at bottom: 14.9 mm

Bore RH joint at the center of the middle finger hole: 14.9mm

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 .4 mm at the barrel and 1 mm at the center tenon.

Intonation summary: This clarinet has one of the best low registers going (the way I pulled out). But it has relatively flat notes right in the crucial clarion register. Special feature: This has the button sticking out from the register key hole, which gives better tone and intonation on the throat Bb. I wondered if using a shorter barrel would help. It of course does allow for the clarion register to be in tune, but then the Cahlumeau register goes way sharp. My summary is that this is sort-of acceptable as intermediate intonation, but not as well in tune as most Noblet-Leblanc products, including Vito.

Key work quality: This key work is nicely designed, and it has the separate low Ab/clarion Eb posts. The chrome keys have been damaged by poor storage on this one. And I find that they are lighter in weight and they bend more easily than the typical Noblet product. So these keys don’t get my highest rating.

This clarinet is most appropriate for: This is a very good intermediate clarinet.

Condition issues noted: Key chorme, mentioned above. I fixed one RH joint tone hole and one chipped tenon. The barrel is missing a ring.