Good stuff on ebay

[kewald]

Bought the 1st listed.  Curious to see how the left hand keys work.

[kewald]

Well, now that I've sprung for the McIntyre, I got around to reading some of the previous comments about them.  Looks like I have a challenge on the way.  Love challenges!

[Windsong]

Excellent!  Am a mechanic, first and foremost, in all my engagement with the world, and the McIntyre is, in my estimation, a true marvel of mechanical complexity and sheer brilliance.  It also weighs notably more than your average Soprano Bb, as a result of the rather prodigious "break" cage-like keywork .  Nice aquisition!

[kewald]

I wonder if there’s any documentation about the McIntyre system.

[Windsong]

I have seen the schematics on-line.  Been years, now, but they exist out there, somewhere.  May have been a brochure that was being sold with a McIntyre, a few years back.

[mechanic]

I wonder if there’s any documentation about the McIntyre system.

Found the patent for it.  Go to https://www.uspto.gov/patents/search#heading-1 and search patent # US002887001  under "since 1790" and it will bring up the diagrams that were submitted with the patent.

[DaveLeBlanc]

Adjusting the McIntyre springs is insane. Some places you have to adjust one spring to overpower another, and if it's not quite right then the pad doesn't close all the way. Can't imagine what it took to come up with that schematic.

[kewald]

I wonder if there’s any documentation about the McIntyre system.

Found the patent for it.  Go to https://www.uspto.gov/patents/search#heading-1 and search patent # US002887001  under "since 1790" and it will bring up the diagrams that were submitted with the patent.

Thanks

[kewald]

Got the patent documents.  It's gonna take some time & thinking to figure out how things work from the patent.  Must've been written by a lawyer = LOL.

[kewald]

Found some documentation on the McIntyre at: Checklist of McIntyre System Clarinets at the National Music Museum (nmmusd.org)  This version refers to a later patent from 1962 which shows keywork like the instrument I bought.  The earlier patent shows a modified "A" key that is not on the later patent.


Also found the same info, plus an estimated value at: [size=78%]I have a Vintage McIntyre System Clarinet, complete, and in very good condition. The Serial Number is 5059, and it was (justanswer.com)[/size]

[kewald]

Clarinets Direct has a McIntyre listed.  McIntyre Bb Clarinet (clarinetsdirect.biz)  However, I came to find out that Clarinets Direct has a new website that does not list this instrument.  Used Bb Clarinets for Sale (clarinetsdirect.net)

[DaveLeBlanc]

Found some documentation on the McIntyre at: Checklist of McIntyre System Clarinets at the National Music Museum (nmmusd.org)  This version refers to a later patent from 1962 which shows keywork like the instrument I bought.  The earlier patent shows a modified "A" key that is not on the later patent.


Also found the same info, plus an estimated value at: [size=78%]I have a Vintage McIntyre System Clarinet, complete, and in very good condition. The Serial Number is 5059, and it was (justanswer.com)[/size]

$1,000 is a VERY OPTIMISTIC value. I don't see any realistic world where a McIntyre would be worth any more than $500. They regularly trade in the $300 range. I even saw a McIntyre ALTO clarinet sell for just $600.

Realistic value for a restored McIntyre is no more than $500 in my opinion. There is simply not enough demand for this item. It's a museum piece for sure, but with a dearth of spet collectors, and the relative abundance with respect to demand, there's no world where I see a McIntyre ever fetching anywhere close to a grand.

[kewald]

  Thanks Dave!


I had wondered about the valuation.  The more I delve into this world of vintage instruments, the more I learn just how little knowledge I have.  That's what makes it interesting to me - learning.


Gotta keep the grey matter active.


BTW, I'm 80 years old.

[kewald]

And another bit of info about the McIntyre.  McIntyre System Clarinet (archive.is)


Note that near the Register key there's an additional key which I haven't seen on any other photo or document.


Perhaps someone who knows more about this forum than I could collect all these messages into a thread about McIntyre.


Thanks,

[DaveLeBlanc]

That extra key is very unusual and was not a standard McIntyre feature. That's a double register key, most often seen in very old 19th century alto and bass clarinets. There's not much reason for a double register in a smaller clarinet simply due to the physics of it all.

All modern alto and bass clarinets have a double register, but it's usually a much different module than the two keys next to each other, which I have never seen in any modern clarinet besides the example you posted.