Amati Kraslice and stencils

[Silversorcerer]

With only a few examples represented on this forum so far, I still think it is not to early to begin a thread on Amati clarinets and various brands that were Amati made. These two photos are not ones I made, but are seller's photos I have borrowed from past listings. They are sufficient to identify the stencils because the Amati key work is very unique and easily distinguishes these other brands. Amati resulted from the consolidation of many independent makers under one name and after a decade or more, the quality of the instruments improved immensely. Some of the other trade names that are common are Meyer and Artist. Expect to see other names less frequently. As usual, be sure to compare the key work features because any maker could mark a clarinet Meyer or Artist and certainly I have seen the "Artist" name on clarinets by other makers.

[Windsong]

A fine brand, and one of genuine and sincere quality.  The German inspired (and at times during history--German-made) Czech brand seldom fails to deliver.  I've heard no ill word spoken about their wares from any time period since their inception.

[Silversorcerer]

You can upload the photos again, copy and paste the text, or link the URL of the previous post on the other thread.  I'm going to borrow a few from that recent Artist listing as well, maybe a couple of others if I can find them.

Check this one out, a "Prestige" in either hard rubber or plastic composite. I wonder who was using "Prestige" as a brand first? I think some other company is currently using that as a model name.
This listing link will go dead at some point so I borrowed the photo.

[noneyet]

Here's my Meyer, serial number 6147. The serial on the upper joint is curious. Ya think they may have misaligned the stamper a bit??? The coolest thing, however, has to be the funky shaped C#/G#, don'tcha think?  ;D

And that Prestige has the same funky key  :o

[DaveLeBlanc]

Excellent idea. I will dredge up the two example of Amati products I have, one generic 1980s product and one very nice ACL 201, a wooden, articulated C#/G# model that ended up selling for something like $450

[LarryS]

Interesting. There is an Amati USA who post on  Instagram now.
https://www.instagram.com/amati.usa/

[LarryS]

One of their claris

[Silversorcerer]

I'm guessing that is the USA distributor of their new offerings. Foreign corporations frequently set up US daughter corporations to handle distribution. A prime example is H&A Selmer, USA that originally only distributed instruments by Selmer, Paris.

Primarily the focus of this thread is identifying those instruments made by Amati that were or are imported with other brand names marked on them.

[DaveLeBlanc]

It wasn't an ACL 210, it was actually a ACL 314.

[DaveLeBlanc]

Then there's this, only marked on the bell.

[LarryS]

Thats a beauty Dave! Why is there a hole in one of the corks though?

[DaveLeBlanc]

Thats a beauty Dave! Why is there a hole in one of the corks though?

That is for the articulated C#/G# mechanism. Normally, the C# key is located on the upper joint, but the pad is kind of squished right to the very end edge of the joint, leading to some intonation issues.

The so-called "articulated" mechanism seeks to solve these issues by placing the C# hole where is should be, which happens to be exactly in the center of the middle tenon. It's kind of a complicated thing where they have to drill a hole through that tenon but it is said to make the C# a better sounding note.

This problem arises directly from the breaking up of clarinets into two main body joints instead of one (unibody) setup. Unibody clarinets naturally don't have this issue because they hole can be placed exactly where it needs to be, without any hindering of body joint breaks.

[LarryS]

Makes me wonder why more clarinets aren't made in one part (well 3 parts, body + bell, barrel and mouthpiece). Kinda like saxophones.

[Silversorcerer]

Makes me wonder why more clarinets aren't made in one part (well 3 parts, body + bell, barrel and mouthpiece). Kinda like saxophones.

Very good question I've often asked, myself, L. And the related question is why don't the one piece metal clarinets have the C# on front of the tube?

I understand the desire for a smaller case, but long and narrow was fine for metal clarinets, so what's the reasoning?  ???

[DaveLeBlanc]

I would imagine it has much to do with wood. I would guess that it's a bit harder to find one long, good quality piece of wood than two shorter, good quality pieces.