Normandy 4

Normandy clarinets are also made by Leblanc/Noblet, but since they don't always say that on the trade mark, I list them separately. Most of the Normandy clarinets are before 1980, so I have put them in the vintage category. (1980 is the cut-off for vintage clarinets suggested on eBay.)

[Sept2012 Some Normandy 4 have wide bores plus poly-cylindrical technology! See results for Shauna's clarinet below. 15.0mm bore at the top of the LH joint, and 14.75mm at the bottom of the same joint

I am sure that some Normandy 4's are after 1980. If you see a Normandy 4 with the kind of logo displayed here, it is a not a vintage model. My more recent Leblanc brochures (from around 2007) do not mention Normandys.

Some Normandy 4's show the old logo but the new-style hump on the top trill key. This is #A7031. Somewhat before this model are models like #67085, which has the top two trill keys tapered down.

Testing Serial #A7031

Barrel: 66.2mm

Bore LH joint top: 14.8mm

Bore LH joint at bottom: 14.8mm

Intonation results taken when playing loud and not lipping. See how to interpret these results on the Wooden Clarinets main page.

Results under PitchLab are Shauna's Normandy 4, using my Chedeville mouthpiece and Signature Series 3 3/4 reed. The reason I added these results is because this Normandy is the first one I have seen having the characteristics of a poly-cylindrical bore clarinet.

Probably the first results were done pushing all the way in at the barrel and in the center. For Shauna's clarinet (using PitchLab), I pulled about 1mm at both the barrel and the center tenon.

List of Phil's Normandy 4's

Serial #A7031, all wood, hump on the top right hand trill key, and the old fashioned wide logo. Perhaps made in 1990.

1Jun2011, for Guy in CT, #93202, wide traditional logo with a 4, straight style top trill key. Very nice instrument! Low A only +10.

5Jun2011, #A12978. Wood in excellent condition, very slight pitting on keys.

23Jul2011, #A5062. Wood and keys in excellent condition. Traditional logo with 4 in shield, bump on top trill key.

7Nov2011, #99279. Hump on top RH trill key. Wood in wonderful condition.

3Dec2011, #10139. No hump. Sold to Ed. Fixed crack in bell. Other wood and keys in very nice condition.

2Jun2012, #13405. No hump on top trill key. Wood in perfect condition, and keys showing no wear marks. Pictures

24Sept2012, #A25593, for Shauna B. Straight top trill key. Wood in perfect condition, keys in new condition. Same mountain shaped logo as pictured above. But this one has a 15.0mm bore at the top of the LH joint, and 14.75mm at the bottom of the same joint. 65.9mm barrel.

14Dec2012, #A1332, traditional shield-shaped logo with number 4, wide logo on bell, also has hump on top right trill key. Wood and keys in perfect shape.

??2012, #77789. About one half of the top female tenon of the right hand joint was badly chipped away. I spliced in material, but there is not much anchoring the combination. The center tenon should be treated with care. I also fixed a couple of long cracks in the bell. Other than that, the keys, barrel, and left hand joint are in nice condition.

21Apr2013, #A437, same description as A1332 above. And wood and keys are in perfect shape also. No condition issues.

23Apr2013, #77092-LH #87655-RH Alas! An eBay purchase with mis-matched serial numbers. Wood and keys in excellent shape. Small crack filled in bell. Straight top trill key.

27Apr2013, #A16952, two very slight chips fixed in the bottom tenon on the LH joint. Keys and wood in beautiful condition. LH joint logo completely gone, and the bell is not far behind.

30Apr2013, #79632, wide logo on bell, middle sized traditional shield logo has a 4 above “Normandy” on the two keyed joints. Wooden barrel and bell. The right hand joint had a 1cm long jagged chip at the end of the tenon. It extended about 9.5mm into the joint, or just past where the cork for that tenon starts. On the left hand joint, there were three chips, one big one at the top and two small ones on the bottom tenon. The bell had a 2 inch upside-down v-shaped crack which I repaired so that it hardly shows on the outside. The key work only shows wear spots on the throat tone A and G# keys. It never was a question if Pat's (fictitious name) clarinet was going to fall apart in marching band practice. The question was only when it would fall apart. The Scotch tape she put on the joints didn't hold it together. But most of the time it fell on the football field. The worst accident happened in the school parking lot when the bass drum player made an unexpected about face just when she was coming by and distracted by a glimpse of her secret love, a second trumpet player named Jack. Pictures: https://plus.google.com/photos/104816800247472506645/albums/5872836387936283185

5May2013, #70175. Wonderful flawless condition of wood and keys. Configuration of logos and keys like others in the serial 70 thousand range.

7May2013, #A22918. Mountain shaped logo which is engraved— not just painted on, with straight top trill key. Fantastic condition for keys and wood. One small chip was filled and stabilized on the left hand joint lower tenon. This has 14.9mm top LH bore and bottom LH bore 14.65mm. Might even be poly-cylindrical.

31May2013, #77146, no wood condition issues were fixed, but this clarinet has some pitting on the keys due to long storage in a case. Straight trill key, wide shield logo with 4 above Normandy. Excellent player.

29Jul2013, #63927. Fixed 1/4" chip on lower LH tenon. I improved the looks of a previously-glued chip on the exterior above the register key. Long but hair-line crack fixed in the bell. Key work like new.

8Aug2013, #94805, for Ethan T. No condition issues in the wood. Excellent!

16Aug2013, #67085. The top two trill keys are tapered down. The logo is still the older one with the 4 in the shield. The wood on this one is perfect, and the keys look almost like new.

28Sept2013, #A12649. For Grace TG. A couple of keys have some case pitting. The wood is flawless.

29Nov2013, #A89508. For David B. The thumb rest has been repositioned lower by someone else. There were two very minor chips in tenons repaired. Keys very nice.

23Dec2013, #72708. For Jae Kim. Slight chipping in the lower tenon LH joint was filled.

30Apr2014, #95850 LH and #32290 RH (which is a plain Normandy joint, not a Normandy 4). This mixed serial number clarinet came to me with cracks in the LH joint and one very minor chip on that joint. The RH joint had serious chipping on the bottom, and I spliced in material from a plastic instrument. The keys are in great condition. And for whatever reason, this blended clarinet has really great intonation and very nice response. I also filled two cracks in the barrel. Amazingly, the bell is in great condition.

23May2014, #81201, significant case damage to keys, but wood in perfect condition.

3Jan2015, #70448. A serious chip was fixed on the bottom tenon. Just holding the bell will not put a lot of pressure on that. If it is not dropped again, I guarantee this chip will not cause a problem. Keys show wear marks on the Ab throat tone key and register key. I think this shows that this was played well from early student days and through college. This instrument plays like a professional horn. I just noticed while taking pictures for listing this: The logos in many places (except RH joint) are all faint. But particularly the one on the LH joint is non-existent. When the logo is gone in this position, it normally indicates that the joint was cracked and repaired. If so, someone did a wonderful job.

Serial numbers and dates:

We don't seem to have good positive information about the newer Normandys. All I can go on is this from woodwind.org:

Information from readers:

One reader, Polly in Texas, says her Normandy 4 was bought new in 1986 with a serial number of A1605. Because it was ordered by a large store, it is likely it was made in 1985-86. Her parents paid $325 at the time.

1982 #11177 from Chris's mother-in-law. The instrument was bought via a rent-to-own program, so it could have been made a year or two earlier

1986 #A1605 from Polly, as above.