request information about the Penzel-Mueller Soloist model

[philpedler]

A clarinetpages reader, Dalton, requests any information about the Penzel-Mueller Soloist model. Does anyone have information on how this model will fit in with the Studio Recording, Empire, or Brilliante models???

[Silversorcerer]

I have information gleaned from three auction listings and included photographs that indicate that the Penzel Mueller Soloist model was a student level French stencil, keywork very closely matching the M. Masson Thibouville Freres clarinets of the the 1950s. All three examples sport a bell that lists New York, Toronto, and Paris instead of Long Island, New York. A photo of one of these has a very clear "France" imprint on the bottom back of the lower joint. I presume that all of the Soloist models will have this mark. I have messaged the seller inquiring about the serial number and location of it. [Edit update, the serial # is 5775B, another Soloist in the confirmed serial record is 4004B. Notice a pattern? There is a separate serialization code for the French stencils, perhaps an odd one.] These appear to follow a "no letter pre-fix" separate serialization sequence. Additionally that one with the documented "France" imprint is listed with this statement,

"Original owner selling this Penzel Mueller Soloist wood clarinet.  In excellent condition.  All parts work and cork in great condition.  Used three years in Jr. High school mid 1950's.  Has "France" stamped in wood."

Apparently at the end of the company's run against French imports, they turned to a "if you can't beat them, join them" strategy. My own opinion, shared by American clarinetist and clarinet maker Jan Williams, is that the post war Marshall plan for rebuilding the French economy favored French clarinet importers to the extent that they could under-price the established US makers of finer instruments. This could have been the case with Penzel Mueller, which seems to have turned to importing French student stencils at the 11th hour.

In the case of Jan Williams, post-war politics hit him with a one-two punch. Not only did he face lower priced French competition, but additionally the benefactors of the United Nations decided the location of his clarinet workshop would be a great place to locate the UN building. For context, Jan toured Europe as a clarinetist with John Phillips Sousa when Jan was 16 year old. He later was a symphony clarinetist with various major east coast city orchestras and opened his own clarinet shop. Some people think his clarinets are re-worked French stencils, but I own #552 and I see nothing on it anywhere that would substantiate these rumors.

In any case, the Penzel Mueller Soloist is a reasonably well made post-WW2 French student clarinet, not a model that was part of the USA-made primary Penzel Mueller, Long Island line of clarinets.

[gkern]

Okay, here's my two cents worth, quite brief.  The 4004B Soloist mentioned above is mine, and neither "France" nor "Made in France" appear anywhere on the clarinet.  I fail to see any pattern between the 2 serial numbers mentioned.

It is my understanding that serial numbers with an alpha prefix were post WWII models, perhaps even beginning during WWII, and that those lacking the alpha prefix were definitely pre-WWII.  In that period, Selmer, Buffet, and Leblanc only made what are considered "professional" clarinets; the different classes of "student" and "intermediate" came at a much later time.  There is no reason to believe that Penzel Mueller would have been any different.  While I am by no means any where near a proficient player, I rank my Soloist next to my Selmer Centered Tone, which by any manner of judging, was a "professional" clarinet.  Phil gave my Soloist his spa treatment some time ago and considered the intonation professional.

[Silversorcerer]

Thank you for your input. You might be able to supply more than 2 cents. It both sheds light on and complicates the history of the Soloist model;- but often history is complex, certainly concerning clarinet origins. The Soloist that is currently listed at auction, #5775B, is marked with the serial number on both sections (according to the seller after I inquired). It is also marked France, as shown in the photo borrowed from the listing.

I encourage you to compare the photos of the clarinet in the listing to your own and note and report both differences and similarities in both key work and markings. I have a few photos on file of #4004B, and it has the Toronto and Paris references on the bell. The key work on #5775B, strikes me as very similar to M. Masson Thibouville Freres models. I see one difference in #4004B at the trill guides and the third Soloist model I have a record of, serial unknown, has a trill guide matching #4004B. There might be other differences if you look closely at the photos and compare them. Perhaps there is more additional information you could supply that would help clarify the differences between a USA Soloist and a French Soloist beyond the fact that the French one is marked France on it.

The pattern in the two serials that I saw was that in both 5775 and 4004, the first and last digits are the same and the middle two digits are also the same. There are no letter pre-fixes in either serial number. It could simply be a coincidence, but a third Soloist serial would be interesting to have and help clear that coincidence up.

#5775B was purchased new (according to the original owner who is selling it) and played for 3 years during the mid 1950s. Obviously the lack of a letter prefix is neither a pre-war no post-war marker, since #5775B is clearly a post war clarinet and has no letter prefix. While a greater number of post war clarinets, perhaps all of certain models have the prefix (model designation), so do a number that appear to be pre-war, albeit by only a few years. See the thread on known Penzel Muellers and serial numbers. By the time a high percentage of the known clarinets are being marked as military clarinets (M6xxxB), the letter prefix (model indicator) has been part of the serial format for several thousand serial numbers. One of the latest Empires on record (mine) has a serial H15208B. Depending on yearly production numbers, it does seem most plausible that the high concentration of Brilliante models designated US were built in 40s, during the war. Obviously the annual production numbers were never very high. It looks like these average somewhere between 500-1000 instruments a year. Thus the serial format most plausibly changed before the war.

[gkern]

Silver - curious where you got the pictures of the 4004B. I have owned it for over 2 years.

[Silversorcerer]

Okay, here's my two cents worth, quite brief.  The 4004B Soloist mentioned above is mine, and neither "France" nor "Made in France" appear anywhere on the clarinet.  I fail to see any pattern between the 2 serial numbers mentioned.

It is my understanding that serial numbers with an alpha prefix were post WWII models, perhaps even beginning during WWII, and that those lacking the alpha prefix were definitely pre-WWII.  In that period, Selmer, Buffet, and Leblanc only made what are considered "professional" clarinets; the different classes of "student" and "intermediate" came at a much later time.  There is no reason to believe that Penzel Mueller would have been any different.  While I am by no means any where near a proficient player, I rank my Soloist next to my Selmer Centered Tone, which by any manner of judging, was a "professional" clarinet.  Phil gave my Soloist his spa treatment some time ago and considered the intonation professional.

OK, given all the information we have in the serial list and the photos, I will speculate on a most plausible explanation. Soloist #4004B is a pre-war USA Penzel Mueller, Soloist #5775 is a post-war stenciled French instrument.

Between your Soloist, 4004B, and Soloist 5775B, is the point where the production change occurred. Grey area of about 1700 serials?

[Silversorcerer]

I edited some of the photos I have of three examples, one serial unkown, 4004B, and 5775B, which show a few very minor differences between the USA and French. Apparently two of the three are USA, 5775B is marked France:

Trill guides:

[Silversorcerer]

I edited some of the photos I have of three examples, one serial unkown, 4004B, and 5775B, which show a few very minor differences between the USA and French. Apparently two of the three are USA, 5775B is marked France:

Lower joint post on F key and crows foot:

[Silversorcerer]

Note the inconsistency of the placement of the bell markings and the engraving mis/double-strike on the line that says "PARIS" it is "P-A-RR-ISS"on one the French (3rd) bell:

[gkern]

Notice also that the model with "France" also has the word "MODEL" as part of the emblem.  I have wondered about this in the past.  Perhaps you are onto something here; maybe the pre-war what we now call "professional" instruments ceased, maybe during the war years.  Something different was going on for sure, as many PM horns were produced for the military, proven by the different (USMC etc.) imprints on them.  The Soloist is not shown in a circa 1952 brochure, but both it and the Artist are below the Super Brilliante in a 1955 price list, and the Artist had in pre-war times been the stellar model.  PM was winding down around then (1955), ceasing operations around 1960, perhaps the clarinets were being stenciled in France for economic reasons at that time.  Still does not explain the lack of a leading alpha character, might not have been needed with the "France" imprint.  I have read on other forums that the later PM models were inferior to the earlier ones, could be explained by this rationale?

O, BTW, looks like the pix of my Soloist came from the PMfanclub web site...

[Silversorcerer]

I've borrowed some photos from where ever these appear. I am sure some came from the fan club. I e-mailed the club about doing the serial "registry" page with any historic information about individual instruments. The club suggested that it might be best pursued through the forum, so I brought what I had so far here. It is very incomplete, but I usually only add instruments if the serial is known. And I like to have a photo if possible. There is some good information collected at the fan page. I found this catalog page in some files I had and it confirms what I thought about the letter prefixes and models. At the time of this ad there were four Penzel Mueller models. Later there would be few more or different ones including Soloist, Empire State (different model), Super Brilliante, and Super Recording.