What is this instrument?

January 27, 2015 6:24 AM

What is this instrument? I think it's a soprano sax, but it looks slightly different than other soprano saxes, so I'm wondering if it's a silver clarinet. Extra credit: who made it, how old is it, what's it worth? Thanks!
posted by crazylegs to Media & Arts (8 answers total)

Is it a B flat saxophone? I was bequeathed a B flat sax when I was a kid, and there was this ongoing thing about how I could never learn play it because it "looked weird" and no instructors wanted to believe us that it was a B flat sax.
posted by phunniemee at 6:28 AM on January 27, 2015 [1 favorite]

It looks to me like a metal clarinet. Can you get a shot of any serial numbers or designs on the instrument?

The price will largely be determined by how much work it would need to get into playing condition.
posted by lownote at 6:30 AM on January 27, 2015

Response by poster: It's not in my possession so this photo is the only info I have about it.
posted by crazylegs at 6:34 AM on January 27, 2015

Yep, that there is a metal clarinet.

Clarinet

Soprano sax

It's the upper & middle keys + bell that really give it away. Neat!

(once-clarinettist turned saxophonist, btw)
posted by fraula at 6:37 AM on January 27, 2015 [2 favorites]

That is a clarinet. It looks like it will need some work to get it playable again. Depending on how long ago it was last used, you might need to replace all of the pads and corks. When I was in high school (1999 or so) it was about $100 to refurbish a clarinet.
posted by domo at 7:37 AM on January 27, 2015

http://www.clarinetpages.net/metal-clarinets
It's probably worth a couple hundred at most, and it'll cost you about a hundred to get it playable again.
When I played, metal clarinets were looked down on as you could get much better sound with a quality wooden clarinet.
posted by domo at 7:42 AM on January 27, 2015

Two other differences between a clarinet and a sax: Saxophones are more conical, clarinets more cylindrical. Clarinets have open keys with holes in the middle. Saxes have closed keys.
This is a metal clarinet. They are not generally considered valuable as clarinets.
posted by Jode at 8:30 AM on January 27, 2015

Did you take the photo back down? I'm getting a 404 on that Flickr link. Even if the question has been answered, some of us like to see what's been asked :)
posted by intermod at 1:23 PM on January 27, 2015 [2 favorites]