clarinet value

[zigzigy7]

I am looking to sell my amati acl 315 full boehm clarinet in order to partially fund the purchase and restoration of a better horn and I would appreciate some help in appraising this instrument.it is made of wood and the serial # is 200400 but I could never find a date to attach to it. i purchased it little over a year ago for $450 and have had the register key pad replaced with cork and the C#/G# key pad replaced because it was torn, but that's the only work i've had done on it and works perfectly. thank you.

[DaveLeBlanc]

Wow, that's beautiful. Reminds me of one I had a while ago.

I'd estimate this at the $550-$600 range. So you should be able to make money on the sale.

What are you planning on purchasing with these funds?

[zigzigy7]

i've found a selmer depose full boehm for around 400 that i think would be a good step up once its been tweaked. considering amati's full boehms dont have the best keywork

[DaveLeBlanc]

That's a pretty good price for an FB Selmer. Good luck!

[philpedler]

That is a beautiful instrument!

If you are willing, I think it might help several of us to know how much you are able to sell that full Boehm for in the end. I often place those as starting at $1000, even for old ones. But clearly I must be wrong. I'm assuming that it wasn't new two years ago, right?

[zigzigy7]

I bought the amati used off of ebay and I'll keep you posted on what I get for it

[Windsong]

Zigzigy,
What is it about the keywork you don't like?  Is it the ergonomics or the construction?
(Beautiful FB, by the way.)
Cheers-

[zigzigy7]

more construction than ergonomic. its an intermediate horn so it's nickel plated. as a result, all the weight and springs you have to push down in order to use the low eb, the LH eb also offers unusual resistance. ergonomically, the LH C# is rather small and positioned lower than the B so when i reach for it i consistantly believe i am going to miss it and usually did when i first was getting used to it. also as a side note, FBs are touchy to adjust. the articulated C# and ring allowing the forked eb. combining these two makes the 1/1 fingering for eb invalid unless you take the time to balance out both of these screws just right, which took me months. not a problem for just this clarinet but most any FB save for possibly ones with donut keys.

[zigzigy7]

just an update. the work on my new selmer is finished. it has no model name but a serial number of M98xx placing it in 1946. the keys re silver plated, a detail i missed when i first got it on account of how dull it was with age. compared to the above amati the keys are much more responsive and the clarinet as a whole is considerably lighter. the grain on this is gorgeous, the best looking of my seven clarinets with a wooden edgeware as a close second. the register key is identical to that of a centered tone. the bell has no markings on it aside from "made in france", though a slight depression in the wood resembles a spot where a circular logo similar may have been fixed to the bell as opposed to etched. there is also a D stamped onto the low Eb key, what this means, though, i dont know