Good stuff on ebay

[DaveLeBlanc]

Ten grand for a purple CSO?
The seller is clearly "taking the piss".

If one just HAS to have one, this one will save $9900.00
https://www.thepurplestore.com/cgi-bin/product_detail.cgi?pstore_id=9965

Silver plated keys on a $100 clarinet? That's awfully nice of them

[mechanic]

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Harmony-Purple-Clarinet-/282641893423?hash=item41cec5082f:g:kBcAAOSwAPVZMFcf

A bit much...

Check out his other items.  You can also get a $10000.00 t-shirt, baseball cap or sunglasses.  I wonder if he combines shipping?

[noneyet]

Ten grand for a purple CSO?
The seller is clearly "taking the piss".

What on earth is that guy thinking???
And what does "taking the piss" mean?  ???

[Windsong]

It means joking.  It's used when someone is clearly being ridiculous.

[DaveLeBlanc]

Probably derived from french, they seem to love their piss.
Il pleuve comment une vache pissé!

[Windsong]

Probably, this should fall under "Not-so-good", as it's entirely overpriced, and the photos are lousy, but I reference it, as I ran into this exact same clarinet in a thrift store today, being sold for $24.95.
Vintage is estimated at 1955-1965, and there was nothing terribly special about it except for the pristine German nickel keys, very nice grenadilla wood with no issues, and the Selmer HS* mouthpiece branded "Ideal".  Certainly a solid student instrument, but I don't need any more of those.  At $24.95, it is a deal...for someone else with fewer clarinets.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Clarinet-Ideal-Paris-France-La-Paree-Czechoslovakia-/200407835822?hash=item2ea93ce4ae:m:mJZRyNLAkGrOEPzKWyVz-HA

[Airflyte]

Windsong, good move. I would have difficulty on passing up that deal at the store. Let's hope whoever buys it, appreciates it and takes care of it while enjoying the learning process.

[Windsong]

Oh, I thought about it--I really did.  The Selmer MP was worth more than the $24.95.  It had no condition issues. 

Sadly, I missed the "good ones" by a couple of days.  Up until 2 days ago, they had four clarinets.  A man came in and bought three.  As this was the one he left, I can only imagine what he got. I cannot be everywhere at once, and despite my asking them repeatedly to call me when they get woodwinds in, they never do, despite assurances they will.  Apparently I'm not the only player in the local game.

[Silversorcerer]

Probably, this should fall under "Not-so-good", as it's entirely overpriced, and the photos are lousy, but I reference it, as I ran into this exact same clarinet in a thrift store today, being sold for $24.95.
Vintage is estimated at 1955-1965, and there was nothing terribly special about it except for the pristine German nickel keys, very nice grenadilla wood with no issues, and the Selmer HS* mouthpiece branded "Ideal".  Certainly a solid student instrument, but I don't need any more of those.  At $24.95, it is a deal...for someone else with fewer clarinets.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Clarinet-Ideal-Paris-France-La-Paree-Czechoslovakia-/200407835822?hash=item2ea93ce4ae:m:mJZRyNLAkGrOEPzKWyVz-HA

You should post that link on the Amati stencil thread. There are quite a few of those available now if you look. Most are not at all overpriced;- closer to the 24.95. For a sturdy well made instrument that actually plays quite well, one could do a lot worse. I do agree that the Paree is a bit much. If one of these was totally put into fabulous playing condition, it might be a good deal considering a new Amati (plastic) is around $700.

[Dibbs]

Here's an interesting thing.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/G-MOLLENHAUER-SOHNE-Curved-Basset-Horn-in-C-Prototype-one-piece-in-the-World-/272844981740?hash=item3f86d405ec:g:uAEAAOSwJJVZuG0Z

I think I'd call it a bass clarinet in C rather than a basset horn.  It's hard to know how much of the description to believe.  It's clearly not Boehm system for a start.  Can it really have a smaller bore for the lower notes?  I suspect the figures are the wrong way round and the bottom part has a wider bore.

[DaveLeBlanc]

That's a tough one.
What defines a "basset"? Well, the basset clarinet is basically a soprano clarinet to low C, a basset horn is essentially an alto to low C.
But then we have our typical low C bass clarinet that is not referred to as basset. This is probably because basset is likely an English corruption of "bassette" in French, or bass-ette, which is "little bass".
So the basset family is called little basses because the extended range is to low that it goes into the bass clarinet range.

But when you have something in C...
This one only 30 inches so it's not big enough to be a bass in C, I don't think.

I think basset horn is just for alto-style clarinets.

So conclusion, this should probably be called a "curved basset clarinet in C".

[Silversorcerer]

That Mollenhauer is gorgeous. That's the branch of the family that still makes excellent recorders. The other brother was J. Mollenhauer & Son, in Fulda. I have a set of German system Bb sop joints by J.

I think most of the description is correct minus a few human errors, like the bore measurements.

The bore is larger than my alto so this is slightly more toward a bass bore, but the way I understand it or misunderstand it, this would be an octave lower than a C soprano clarinet. The bore is closer to an alto, but the length total is a "bass clarinet in C"?

And what about the odd port before the bell? Tuning port? Perhaps for a key that didn't work out?

It certainly looks like a prototype. Very cool for the super collector, bot a bit steep. I have to note that a J. Mollenhauer bassoon would fetch that price at times.

[Windsong]

http://www.ebay.com/itm/253149431602?ul_ref=https%253A%252F%252Frover.ebay.com%252Frover%252F0%252Fe11051.m43.l1123%252F7%253Feuid%253D05864675344f4d0f8748ba4af29995a5%2526bu%253D43208945403%2526loc%253Dhttp%25253A%25252F%25252Fwww.ebay.com%25252Fulk%25252Fitm%25252F253149431602%2526sojTags%253Dbu%253Dbu%2526srcrot%253De11051.m43.l1123%2526rvr_id%253D0&ul_noapp=true

[DaveLeBlanc]

Neat, I've never seen that version of the logo

[Windsong]

Yes; that's an "interesting" logo for the time this clarinet would have been made, innit? 
So...what's wrong with this clarinet?  Study the keywork carefully.
(Clue:  the barrel and both UJ and LJ reportedly bear no maker's marks.)