Henry Gunckel metal clarinet

[Tinker73]

Hey guys, looking for some information on a metal Henry Gunckel that I just picked up.  I only bought it to add to my current set of Henry Gunckels and really wasn't expecting a lot more out of it than a basic student clarinet.  After looking at it and doing a little research, I think that this is possibly a Bettoney "Boston Wonder" stencil.  The picture of the Serial Number didn't come out the best, but it is P5030, also stamped 5030 on the body under the RH pinky keys.  As far as I can tell all of the keys are stamped on the back with the number 30 also.  I'm hoping some of the members here might have a little more knowledge about these metal clarinets and if I'm on the wrong track, please steer me in the correct direction.  I'm posting some pictures, but it's not the prettiest thing to look at yet!

       If this indeed is a Bettoney "Boston Wonder" stencil as I suspect from the P designation in the Serial number, and with the fact that it is still stamped with "Patent Pending", that would date this clarinet either late 1927 or 1928 as they were stamped with the patent # after the patent was granted in March of 1929, and from my research have found that the Boston Wonders ranged from serial numbers 4000 - 9000 in this patent pending period.  Can't wait to get it cleaned up and re-padded to hear what it sounds like, with any luck it will be better than the student grade that I thought I was buying!  Thankfully all of the screws are loose on it and just the little bit that I hit with a polishing cloth seems like it will clean up very nicely, not sure what to do on the bell where the bottom lip has been flattened a bit, guessing due to being dropped at some point.

     On another note, there was a Henry Gunckel on that auction site last Sunday that I just missed out on.  Upon close inspection of the photos, it appears that this was a B&H stenciled Gunckel.  Really hate that I was runner up on that one, hopefully someone here was able to pick that one up, they don't come along very often!

[Tinker73]

More pictures of the metal Gunckel

[Tinker73]

Just finished cleaning the Henry Gunckel metal up and re-padded it with Valentino pads.  It plays beautifully!  Still has a couple of small issues, lower part of bell has a flat spot on the lip, and had to do a little filing on one key as the spring hook was damaged.  All keys appear to be original on this clarinet, as far as I can tell every key is stamped with the #30 the last 2 digits of the serial number.  Cleaned up very nicely, and still shocked how well this metal clarinet plays.  Seemed to play the best with the mouthpiece that came with it, not sure if it is the original or not as it is unmarked, but after trying 4 different mouthpieces, this one played it by far the most in tune.  I played it with a 3 1/2 reed, I did not even try any of the fifteen 1 1/2 reeds that came with it!

[Airflyte]

Just giving this thread a 'bump'. Gunckel has been talked about lately. Nice looking clarinet.

[Tinker73]

Just wanted to give you an update on the metal Henry Gunckel.  After I finished it up, I sent it to Phil to do a review for Clarinet Pages.  When it was all said and done, it is the student clarinet that I original thought it was, even with that I wouldn't give up a Henry Gunckel metal clarinet that looks this good.  One interesting thing about this one, it has the early style Henry Gunckel logo on it, with one modification, they eliminated Paris from the bottom of the logo, makes sense since it was made by Bettoney a US company.

This one is going to look really nice displayed next to the Rosewood Henry Gunckel (Martin Freres "Stencil", 95% sure) from the 1890's that I'm currently working on!

Here is a link to Phil's review - http://www.clarinetpages.net/metal-clarinets/henry-gunckel

At some point this mysterious Henry Gunckel fellow is going to have to get his own thread showing off some of the wonderful clarinets that bore his name, so the whole world can see them together in all of their glory!