The 'Official' ClarinetPages Vito Reso-Tone thread.

[shmuelyosef]

The red dot probably isn't Loctite as such - the factory applied a material to the threads to keep the pivot screws from working loose and that's probably what the red dot is, unless someone figured out what it is and re-applied it at some point. There's a product called "VC-3 Threadmate" from Vibra-Tite that is similar, but it's pretty thick and I'm not sure it would work well on such small screws.

I use loctite 242 (removable) for the pivot screws...very reversible but makes the adjustments stable

[shmuelyosef]

This one that recently sold on ebay is also a 7242 but with the painted on big V logo.  Serial # E99328.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Vito-Classic-7242-Bb-Clarinet-premium-beginner-student-instrument-Very-Nice-/332055420686?nma=true&si=9xR%252FNiJQ98Fm3YKiUK1QGZc%252BesA%253D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2557

The E99*** serial number doesn't even make the lists and to be from 1984 would mean a production run of over 70,000 that year.  The lists I have found show them going from E13605 to A07632 in 1984.  Another reason I think the painted big V is a late models is the addition of "Classic" on the big V. 

This is strictly conjecture on my part, but I think the logos will have a lot to do with dating the Vito's.  Here's my guess as to how it will all pan out:
Big V stamped into the clarinet (as seen on the clari-tone) will be the earliest, and not on the lists.
Oval Vito, pre 1972 to mid 1984.
Lyre Logo, mid 1984 to early 2000's
Big V painted on, early 2000's
Big L Leblanc, post Conn-Selmer purchase (2005).

I'm about 75% confident in the first 3 logos/times, the painted on ones- not so much.
Bell photo credit goes to ebay seller tiermis0

The E99xxx serial number probably posts the classic 7242 at 2005 or so, but hard to tell...
Regarding your Logos, I have here right now a painted large "V" logo 7214 clarinet with a serial number of A07***. The most trusted serial number list I have puts that around 1984. Also have a V40 with the Big "V" logo serial number D78 with a PRAG pin. The chart would suggest this is a 1999 horn, but it looks like new. Have overhauled and been playing this one. Have a Lyre V40 as well (no PRAG) that dates to 1995 (this fits your model).

Along the line of your original post, however, do you have any information about the 7242 design? Is this just a glorified 7214/V40 or is it one of the newer polycylindrical horns?

[350 Rocket]

Vito serial numbers were "re-set" again relatively recently and given the timing it's very probable that it corresponds to the Kenosha factory being shut down and production moving to Elkhart, which was in 2008. The screen-printed Big V logo appeared in 2004 and continued into Elkhart production.

The 1984 serial reset happened when they switched model numbers from 7112/7114 to 7212/7214 - the latter will have the model number stamped, so they're easy to differentiate.

The difference with 7242 is that it has a .575" bore instead of .584".

[shmuelyosef]

Does anyone have post-2003 serial number information available. I have several "Big V" logo clarinets and had been thinking that these were late 90s, but it's very confusing as, for example, I have two Vito 7214s here with very close serial numbers, but one is an older-looking Lyre example and the other is a very new-looking Big "V".

I attached the SN info that I have

[Airflyte]

This tread is still going! Awesome. As for your question Jeff, I would have to dig around on the web.
Oh, and 350 Rocket, thanks for validating the reset of serial numbers in '84.

[mechanic]

We now have a pre-serial number list date stake.

Vito Reso-Tone 3 serial number 14445 (model 14) was sold on 9/7/1966 in Lansing Michigan.  Certificate of Warranty, Receipt etc. below.

Watching serial numbers for the past couple years, Vito's are all over the board.  I've seen 4 numbers, 5 numbers, 6 numbers, 4 numbers and a letter (A through J, no I yet),  5 numbers and a letter (so far, only A, only Reso-tone 3's and Stubbins) , and the ever popular letter and 5 numbers.

[shmuelyosef]

This tread is still going! Awesome. As for your question Jeff, I would have to dig around on the web.
Oh, and 350 Rocket, thanks for validating the reset of serial numbers in '84.

I have been poking around the web today, trying to find any way to contact Leblanc Vito in Kenosha, WI.

From the Vitos I have been collecting/redistributing lately (as part of a personal mission to get more competent clarinets into the hands of middle-schoolers), I am increasingly convinced that all of the "V"-branded instruments were manufactured after 2003; I have attached an article that in 2004 they were broadcasting a re-marketing of the Vito brand as "Leblancs" to connect the student instruments (which continued to be excellent players if one bothered to get a professional setup) to the professional Leblanc clarinets as step-up choices. I am focusing on the 7214 and less prevalent V40 clarinets. Most of the 7214s get Greenbacks with cork on register, and the V40s get roo-leather pads (with cork). I have recently done a V40 with Valentino Master's on the upper joint and leather on the bottom and it feels and plays wonderfully (I'm likely to keep this one); these are very nice clarinets to work on.

My talking points on this are:
- I have seen multiple occasions of near adjacent 7214s that have quite different bodies and bells...mainly differences in spring placement, bumpers, etc.
- The "V"-branded clarinets are in much better condition almost universally...kind of like on average they are 10-15 years newer.
- most of the Lyre-branded 7214s do not have the PRAG...only a few of them made after 1999 or so, pretty much all the "V"-branded 7214s have the PRAG
- The barrels on the "V"-branded have a slightly shallower taper although there is enough variation to make me uncertain about this

The 7214 clarinet can apparently still be purchased new! I have failed completely to find any way to contact anyone in the Kenosha factory...any suggestions??

[mechanic]

In 2004, Steinway Musical Instruments bought Leblanc.  Shortly after that, they closed the Kenosha plants.  The new lineup of Leblanc's are now made by Conn-Selmer.  It's my understanding that when they closed the Kenosha plants, they donated all the documents there to the National Music Museum in South Dakota.  Anything post 2004 though should be directed to Conn-Selmer in Elkhart Indiana.


The PRAG was patented in 1991. Patent US 5000072 A.  The earliest serial number I have seen with the PRAG is C59088, a Lyre logo 7214.  The official list would put that at 1995. 


The highest serial number in Lyre or Reso-tone 3 logos I've come across is E45597, on a Reso-Tone 3.  2002 by the list.  Anything higher than that has been Vito Classic, big V by Leblanc or the Leblanc L, and all had the PRAG.


I can't say for certain when the second reset took place, sometime after '04.  The highest serial number I've recorded is E99691 on a 7212  big V by Leblanc.

[Yelnad]

I have a Vito Reso-tone 3, serial #C61493 that I started playing in the 4th grade, 1983.  My family purchased it through the rent to own program that the school recommended.  It probably needs new pads and cork, but it works well enough to practice side by side with my daughter who is a beginning clarinet student.

[shmuelyosef]

The PRAG was patented in 1991. Patent US 5000072 A.  The earliest serial number I have seen with the PRAG is C59088, a Lyre logo 7214.  The official list would put that at 1995. 


The highest serial number in Lyre or Reso-tone 3 logos I've come across is E45597, on a Reso-Tone 3.  2002 by the list.  Anything higher than that has been Vito Classic, big V by Leblanc or the Leblanc L, and all had the PRAG.


I can't say for certain when the second reset took place, sometime after '04.  The highest serial number I've recorded is E99691 on a 7212  big V by Leblanc.

Doesn't seem to be any rhyme nor reason on the installation of PRAG. I have seen lyres with and without PRAG in narrow ranges of SNs.
I would love to know if the they ever got to Exxxxx serial numbers after a 3rd reset...
Have you seen any lyre 7214s that have the trill springs rubbing directly on the body? I believe all of these has the metal button inserts for the spring contact and that is one of the key elements that makes me think the Big V and the Lyre 7214s were not concurrently made.

[350 Rocket]

We now have a pre-serial number list date stake.

Vito Reso-Tone 3 serial number 14445 (model 14) was sold on 9/7/1966 in Lansing Michigan.  Certificate of Warranty, Receipt etc. below.

Watching serial numbers for the past couple years, Vito's are all over the board.  I've seen 4 numbers, 5 numbers, 6 numbers, 4 numbers and a letter (A through J, no I yet),  5 numbers and a letter (so far, only A, only Reso-tone 3's and Stubbins) , and the ever popular letter and 5 numbers.

Thank you! That data point helps confirm my conjecture.

Four numbers and a letter is what I see on the original Vito (and on altos, basses, & contras). Leblanc did use the letter I, but it's only a straight line with no serifs, making it look enough like the numeral 1 that it's not easy to notice unless you're looking for it.

[BaritoneJack]

New member here, just started playing clarinet 4 weeks ago - but am making very good progress with the help of a top-notch teacher.

My clarinet is a Reso-Tone, Model 7212, Serial Number C.48611 - bought on Ebay (UK) for £69.  Assuming I've read the serial numbers list on Danny Chestnut's website correctly, it was made at Kenosha in 1979 - making it a heck of a lot older than I thought!

Unfortunately, I can't work out how to add a picture of the logo, but it's 'Vito' inside an oval, with Reso-Tone, below it, USA below that, and a 3 inside a circle at the bottom (all markings engraved, not painted).

I certainly wouldn't have guessed that age from its condition, as the only problems I've found were a slightly sticking key, some of the buffer pads have slipped slightly out of position (though still working), and the corks are getting to the end of their useful life (though still making a good seal).  The sticking key was sorted with a tiny drop of oil on the relevant hinge - I used valve oil from my baritone horn, and it worked a treat.  The pads all appear to be in very good condition - though, in fairness, I've only got as far as playing the notes from C below the stave to A on the second space, so there are a shedload of keys which I haven't used as yet.

I have mixed feelings about playing music;  since I started playing baritone horn in 2015, I've had a heck of a lot of enjoyment and made lots of new friends, and found 'fresh fields to conquer' in the shape of a five string banjo (played two-finger, thumb-lead) - and now the clarinet, and loving the deep, rich sound it makes.  But, at the same time, sad that some unhappy experiences with piano and guitar in my teens convinced me that "I would never be a musician".  Even when, forty years ago, I became good friends with a brother and sister who played in a top notch brass band, I never expressed the slightest interest in having a go - though I know they would have been delighted to help me get started.

And if I hadn't gone along to a Christmas concert put on by a local brass band when I was 68, and heard the conductor saying that they had a training band, and would provide beginners with a free weekly lesson and loan them an instrument, I might never found out that I can make music, too.

The moral of my story?  You NEVER know what you're capable of doing until you've tried - and what have you got to lose?

With best regards to you all,

Baritone Jack

[DaveLeBlanc]

New member here, just started playing clarinet 4 weeks ago - but am making very good progress with the help of a top-notch teacher.

My clarinet is a Reso-Tone, Model 7212, Serial Number C.48611 - bought on Ebay (UK) for £69.  Assuming I've read the serial numbers list on Danny Chestnut's website correctly, it was made at Kenosha in 1979 - making it a heck of a lot older than I thought!

Unfortunately, I can't work out how to add a picture of the logo, but it's 'Vito' inside an oval, with Reso-Tone, below it, USA below that, and a 3 inside a circle at the bottom (all markings engraved, not painted).

I certainly wouldn't have guessed that age from its condition, as the only problems I've found were a slightly sticking key, some of the buffer pads have slipped slightly out of position (though still working), and the corks are getting to the end of their useful life (though still making a good seal).  The sticking key was sorted with a tiny drop of oil on the relevant hinge - I used valve oil from my baritone horn, and it worked a treat.  The pads all appear to be in very good condition - though, in fairness, I've only got as far as playing the notes from C below the stave to A on the second space, so there are a shedload of keys which I haven't used as yet.

I have mixed feelings about playing music;  since I started playing baritone horn in 2015, I've had a heck of a lot of enjoyment and made lots of new friends, and found 'fresh fields to conquer' in the shape of a five string banjo (played two-finger, thumb-lead) - and now the clarinet, and loving the deep, rich sound it makes.  But, at the same time, sad that some unhappy experiences with piano and guitar in my teens convinced me that "I would never be a musician".  Even when, forty years ago, I became good friends with a brother and sister who played in a top notch brass band, I never expressed the slightest interest in having a go - though I know they would have been delighted to help me get started.

And if I hadn't gone along to a Christmas concert put on by a local brass band when I was 68, and heard the conductor saying that they had a training band, and would provide beginners with a free weekly lesson and loan them an instrument, I might never found out that I can make music, too.

The moral of my story?  You NEVER know what you're capable of doing until you've tried - and what have you got to lose?

With best regards to you all,

Baritone Jack

Jack, sounds like you've found yourself a new hobby! 70 quid isn't bad for a functioning Vito. I always liked the rugged quality of these clarinets - you can put these through a meat grinder and it'll still chirp right up.

Have fun

[mechanic]

Jack,
If it's stamped 7212 below the serial number, it's from the second run through of the numbers.  It would be from 1995.
My son played one through 4 years of marching band and they are rugged and sound great. 

[BaritoneJack]

@DaveLeBlanc
I was interested to read your opinion of Vito clarinets; judging from my own experience with baritone horns, I think many people fail to appreciate the potential of 'student' instruments - and that 'cheap' does not necessarily mean 'cheap and nasty' (though in the case of my Ford Fiesta, it does - and decidedly so  ).

About 40 years ago, I read a lovely story to illustrate that point.  A weekly paper called 'New Musical Express' featured an article by a guitar techie who worked in a London guitar store.  A young customer came in one day to ask if there was anything they could do to improve his (insert string of epithets!) Fender clone guitar.  The techie said that it was a pretty cheap clone, but nowhere near as bad as the owner made out.  At that point, a rather scruffy individual wandered up to the counter, and asked if he could have a look.  Owner passed it over to him, still keeping up the bitter refrain as to how afwul it was, and how could anyone expect him to learn with it.

Scruffy bloke checked the tuning, plugged it into an amp, and started to play . . . and the whole damn store came to a standstill, mesmerised by the wonderful music he was making!  Then he handed it back to the owner, said "Ask them to lower the action for you, and it will take you quite a long way before you need to upgrade it", and quietly wandered away - leaving the poor lad speechless!

When he finally got his voice back, he whispered to the techie, "Who the (blank) was THAT??"

Grinning from ear to ear, the techie whispered back . . . "Eric Clapton!" 

With best regards,
Jack

PS - during my practise session earlier this evening, I realised that I made a slip in my first post;  I've got as far as playing from A below the stave (not C) to A on the second space.