Rare Vintage G. Leblanc Enhanced Boehm A Clarinet W/ Left Eb/Ab!
One of several professional clarinets we are offering for sale, and one of the rarest! This is a vintage Leblanc A clarinet, the likes of which I and most people I have talked to have never seen. Three-digit serial 8XX makes this roughly 1945, though the exact date is hard to nail down due to the loss of records from that time. Ditto the model number—this would loosely be called a “pre-Classic enhanced Boehm.” It has tons of extra keys: articulated C#/G#, forked Eb mechanism, extra trill key, and the auxiliary left Eb/Ab lever. The later LL version with this keywork would have been a Model 197, and a catalog from the 1950’s shows Models 499 (full Boehm) and 497 (missing a couple keys compared to this one,) so this would logically be a Model 498 A.
Whatever you call it, it’s an exceptional clarinet. The wood is an amazing bit of aged grenadilla with a tight, straight grain and just two very short, very shallow surface cracks starting at the top of the upper joint, which are not visible in the bore or the tenon, were caught early, sealed very nicely and should never be a problem. Tenons are square with no wobble between joints. Upper tenon is metal-capped to prevent cracking. Nickel-silver keys with the inline (jump key) trill keys. Just through the shop where it was bore oiled, had all new tenon corks installed, and was repadded in a combination of Pisoni double-bladder, pressed-felt and cork pads, with a couple Valentino Master’s Pads in places where they seemed appropriate. Plays very nicely across the entire instrument—very different from a Buffet, with a focused, dark tone and very good intonation. This site limits photos, but you can see others on eBay and Reverb, though the price is higher on those sites.
Comes in a vintage double case and includes a brand-new, $100 case cover giving you extra padding and protection, weather resistance, storage, strap and lots of swag.
A crazy hard-to-find clarinet—likely the only one you’ll ever see, and the perfect match for your vintage Bb Leblanc!