There are many on the web who say the B&H Edgware makes a good jazz clarinet. I've always been a bit skeptical of this, thinking is says more of the player's poor understanding of jazz sound than the instrument. Top jazz players have always played top pro model horns, and the Edgware was a high end student model horn from the 50s-70s when Boosey & Hawkes were at their height.B&H EdgwareSo it was with a predisposition towards dismissiveness that I recently played an Edgware dating from about 1949 (if the serial number chart I checked is to be believed). The particular model I played was in excellent condition. The keys were beautifully preserved, and my general impression was that this horn had either barely been played, or wonderfully restored recently-perhaps both.
Having said that, the keywork was not the standard of a top professional horn.chalumeauOf all registers, the Edgware chalumeau betrays its 'student' status most. Comfortable, easy to blow, and somewhat open, the main problem is a lack of depth, power, and character to the sound when compared with a or (whose chalumeau is perhaps unsurpassed for power and timbral palette). Still, it yields a good, solid sound with considerable body-more than I expected, but difficult to project.clarionThe first nice surprise was the clarion.
Serial No 555567 Boosey & Hawkes Edgeware Bb clarinet.Wooden Body, no cracks, chips pinning etc. Has been through my workshop and has been serviced so is in full working order. I have oiled the body,inside and out.I have oiled the key work which is in very good condition. A beautiful pair of Boosey & Hawkes A & Bb Edgware clarinets. Fully and professionally serviced. Complete with upper and lower joints with matching serial numbers 2945xx (A) and 4271xx (Bb). Each complete with bell, barrel, mouthpiece (593 A clarinet) and ligatures. Boosey & Hawkes is a British music publisher purported to be the largest specialist classical music publisher in the world. Until 2003, it was also a major manufacturer of brass, string and wind music al instruments. Boosey & Hawkes Edgware clarinet, London, United Kingdom In good condition, 1964 Type of instrument/ item: Berry Clarinet Wonderful antique ‘Boosey & Hawkes Edgware' clarinet in the original case, with the serial number ‘38316'. Was founded by Thomas Boosey in 1816. The first reed instruments were introduced after 1879.
Contributing Sources: Allied Supply http://www.horniman.ac.uk/media/file/bandhhandlists. On democracy dahl summary.
On this particular horn, the clarion matched the chalumeau better than many Buffet R-13s I've played. Keep in mind that my biggest criticism of the average R-13 is the timbral shifts between every register (and many in the altissimo). The Edgware's smoothness would make some sense of players preferring it as a primary jazz horn-especially if they are coming to it from Buffets. Oddly enough, the higher I climbed on this horn, the better and more professional it sounded. Which brings me to the.altissimoWho would have though that a student horn could handle real altissimo playing? Yet the Edgware does.
The altissimo on this horn is very close to a good Selmer. Flexible, with good punch to the sound, this a horn to be reckoned with.So it is with a certain amount of surprise that I now say, if you are a doubler looking for a jazz horn with a very limited budget, give the Boosey & Hawkes Edgware a try. They are by far he best student level horn I've played, and the altissimo handles better than many contemporary pro models. Said.Hi Susan-sorry it's taken so long to respond-been a busy month.I've written a review of the Buffet R13 here: personally don't like the sound of them, and that's as someone who has used them in various situations.
There are exceptions.I know of a handful of players who have recorded and performed brilliantly on them. Artie Shaw's last recordings were made on a Buffet clarinet (though I'm not sure if it was an R13-might have been just pre-R13). Back in the late 80s, Eddie Daniels briefly recorded on Buffet, I think, and had some great results. And I've always been a fan of Franklin Cohen's playing in the Cleveland Orchestra. But in the hands of most players, I feel they are very limited in their expressive palette, and yield a sound I just plain don't like. For these reasons and others, they were a constant frustration for me to play. When I was in college and afterwards, playing in orchestras, there was a still a culture that said you 'had' to have an R13 to play in American symphonies.
That attitude, never really true, is now obviously debunked, as many symphony players are using everything from Backun to Rossi to Selmer clarinets. There are many good instrument makers these days, and Buffet can't be said to have a corner on the top professional market anymore, IMO.As a jazz musician, and as a clarinetist dedicated to the art of jazz clarinet specifically, it's worth noting that nearly all the great, iconic jazz clarinet players of the past used large bore Selmers or Leblancs. Benny Goodman (during his height) played Selmers, as did Artie Shaw.
Pete Fountain used a Selmer early on, then became synonymous with his own large bore model Leblanc. Nearly all of the old New Orleans masters-including Johnny Dodds, Sidney Bechet, Barney Bigard, Jimmie Noone, Omer Simeon, and others, played Selmer Albert system horns. Import an ldif file into outlook 2016 for mac. So the sound of jazz clarinet is one that is dominantly a Selmer sound. That's not say you can't play an R13.but it doesn't sound great to me, unless your name happens to be Artie Shaw (and truth be told, I preferred Artie's Selmer sound-even though his last recordings are some of the greatest masterpieces ever put on record).I'm not sure what to recommend to a High School player or college player. The real issue is what works for each person-not a one size fits all.
But as a starters kit, I'd make sure to try a Buffet R13, a pro-level Selmer, and a pro-level Yamaha. Unfortunately, all of these are narrow, polycylindrical bore instruments these days.but at least there will be a diversity of sound concepts to choose from. Good luck!Eric. Said.Hi Destry-The answer to your question lies somewhere between 'not much' and 'whatever someone will pay for it'! Honestly, Edgwares sell for very little on eBay and other places-the best way to find out market value is to do an eBay search.In general, I think the market tends to undervalue B&H clarinet, but there is one consideration worth mentioning: the keywork on the old B&H clarinets is often very brittle, and the replacement parts can be tough to locate here in the USA.Sounds like you have a good one, though-enjoy it!Eric.
I very recently became the owner of a Boosey & Hawkes Symphony Imperial 1010 Bb clarinet.Not a venerated pre-WWII but it does lack the somewhat debated Acton vent, and its 150xxx serial probably dates it to around 1958. Cared for and immediately playable out of its very, very stinky case, but totally filthy and smelly. Gross but with no other flaws.So a sweet almond oil soak, strip down, clean, oil and polish has improved things immensely. Things were really crusty in the register vent and many toneholesThe pads are 'okay' but I'm guessing some stuffiness and resistance is their fault. Corks and regulation all seem in goodish order. However a visit to my tech is definitely due.I got lucky in that it included the original BM2 1010 bore mouthpiece and that it plays rather nicely. Some say bore size match is required on these (and all) horns.
My Vandoren 5RV sounded not too different on it honestly. Tuning was slightly adversely effected but not direly.I play modern Leblanc and Yamaha Eb and Bb so the spread, open smooth tone of this 1010 is very different.All other clarinets I've owned/played have had a more narrow core, focussed tone.I'm curious to know if this is the big bore sound or just the so-called British clarinet sound that Boosey was famous for?Any 1010 or other B&H players here?V. Very nice - I would love to pick up one of these if I could ever excuse the cost, here they are still priced high. But comparable with any other pro level clarinet I guess.I have a 35 year old wooden Edgeware which is the intermediate level, and I like it. I recently had it re padded and re corked and it makes a nice tone.I have been playing with various mouth pieces and reeds today to see what I like best. Mine came with a Selmer mth pce and a B+H 1010 and I bought a Vandoren 5JB to play around with.I haven't played for the main part of 25 years and its starting to come back to me. Thanks for posting firebladejedi, the B&H clarinets seem to get a little less love than they deserve, I think.UK players seems more keen on them due to the marvellous reputation for quality they had.
Boosey And Hawkes 1010 Clarinet Serial Numbers
Here in Australia they are not uncommon (they were probably the only clarinet commonly available here until the 1970s) but not exactly sought after however. Those I see regularly are not in good condition. According to the bloke I bought mine from all interested parties were from the UK.I've been very keen to get my hands on a B&H for awhile.
Sleeper horns for sure. Sadly they're usually either in bad nick or the Regent or Oxford plastic student models. I've been looking at and bidding on Edgware/2-10 models but missing out. 926s and Emperors at good prices have eluded me too. I got super-lucky on this one.
The price was chickenfeed really for a playable top notch professional horn. Glad I played the long game.V. Very nice, I too recently got a B&H clarient and have to agree with you. They a very unknown good horn.
The one I got I found on Craig'sList and it is an Edgeware model, serial number 135xxx and I dated it to be around 1956 or 57. It's a very good horn. I have my other horn to compare it to which is a Buffet R13 and it sounds nice but different compared to my Buffet. What's really interesting is according to the Women who sold it to me she said its made of Rosewood and at first I was skeptical cause I just didn't expect it to be. I never new they made many rosewood ones. But when I was able to go try it at her house I could tell by comparison it definitely isn't grenedilla.
Apparently at that time buffet bought up all the grenedilla so many company's couldn't make a lot of them out of that at the time. I like it a lot and it's sound is really full, I don't think it's a 'large bore' but definitely suits some jazz things good IMO. A lot of people don't know these are very good and therefore there isn't a jhigh demand for them. Slot of times it leads to people selling them at a low price.
I think I spoke too soon on the mouthpiece front.I just got the 1010 back from my tech. Leaks removed and some new corks, regulation, etc.
(The pads are old but play well) and suddenly the B&H BM2 1010 mpc plays so much better! Less stuffy, better intonation and easier to control. The 5RV feels out of control now by comparison and wonky tuning-wise. (Playing Rico Reserve Classic 3.5 and Vandoren blue box 3, alternating 4+ reeds on both mpcs).On the venerable Clarinet BBoard forum there is a distinct difference of opinion on whether or not acoustically/musically a 1010 or 926 bore mouthpiece (wider bores, non-conical) is necessary on 1010 and 926 Boosey horns. I'm now leaning towards it being absolutely necessary (it seems logical given the design differences).The 1010 plays beautifully now.
Big, spread sound with richness. My Yamaha 34II is perky and a bit slicker in keywork definitely, but also quite anemic by comparison. Hard to put down the 1010 it's so good!V.
Boosey And Hawkes Edgware Clarinet
I'm playing less clarinet these days, but this would be a very nice incentive to do it more. I do have an intermediate B&H Emperor waiting for an overhaul, unfortunately unplayable in its current state.Anyway, congratulations for this nice horn.Thanks DexdexEmperor's are very good horns and without the excessive bore of the Symphony 1010 (so no, or little, mouthpiece woes).I believe they have a.593' bore like the 926s? But still pretty big!My tech used to work at where they overhauled 1010s and other Booseys regularly but he says the demand has dwindled somewhat for these older big bore horns. The now take the lion's share of the big bore business understandably.Honestly, the quality of this horn astounds me. The wood is so compact and dense and the keywork, although a tad thick in places, is still rock steady and responsive.I'm enamoured!
I can certainly recommend hunting one down!Mine is a marvellous horn - such a sweet, rich tone and easy to play.I also quite prefer the B&H ergonomics - very comfortable on the pinkies. However the register key and throat A keys need some getting used to. The register key is at least 1mm closer to the thumbhole than any other clarinet I've played including Eefers!And the chunkiness of the A key means it also gets in the way early on.I ended up buying a new 1010 bore mouthpiece. Too many issues with French bore mpcs. Ed Pillinger made me a P45b facing one of his 1010 pieces. Ed's work is flawless and amazing service!V. Thanks Steve, the 1010 is indeed a joy to play.You're right about the smooth keywork.
Things 3 dmg cracked for mac. I was shocked at how slick it was against my modern intermediate and pro horns. Easiest clarinet I've ever played both mechanically and tonewise.I can't recommend enough getting a proper bore sized/shaped mouthpiece.
Boosey Hawkes Edgware Clarinet Serial Numbers Online
My French bored mouthpieces sounded great but the tuning was so wacky. I could've had the original BM 2 1010 refaced but I didn't see the need. Magic retouch pro 4.3 panel for adobe photoshop for macos. Ed Pillinger's prices are very affordable.Overall the Pillinger 1010 mpc is incredible and the perfect mate to the Symphony 1010.V.
