Artie Shaws Clarinet?!
Worlds Greatest Jazz Clarinet for Sale....pictures below
It was obvious when I first played a conn 444 that it was the same instrument I heard on the famous recordings by Artie Shaw made in the late 30s. This is the same type of clarinet he played, from the same era. I bought 17 of these on ebay with problems like cracks running under the keys and going through tone holes, or other things that made them unrepairable. It seems like they are all cracked. It took years to find one that turned out OK after all the repairs, and I eventually found four good ones (only two had no cracks). I'll sell one of the best, and include an equally difficult to find, but appropriate partner--A mint Brilhart Personaline mouthpiece. The entire setup for $950 USD, and if you don't like the one you get you can pay a $35 exchange fee and the shipping to trade for my other one. I'm just a player that likes to try different vintage horns, and considering the cost of the ebay purchases that turned out to be junk I don't break even on all of the good clarinets I sell.I'm told that Artie shaw also played a Selmer BT, but since 1954 he never played a clarinet at all--publically or privately, and rumor is he made a lampstand out of his clarinet. (The link shows a lamp I made out of a very old Eb Albert--It works, but I certainly wouldn't want to play it enough to take apart the lamp again. Eb Albert to me is the clarinet from Hell, and I'll sell a very rare double-walled metal one (one of the first ever made, and mint) which is pictured somewhere else on my site for $1900. That's a collectors piece; this conn 444 is something to play, and in my opinion the best jazz clarinet ever made. For one of my 444N clarinets $950 should be considered a very good deal considering what it is and how hard it is to find a good one that works.
*********UPDATE*********
One 444 sold and the buyer didn't want to trade back, so the other is for sale at the same price-$950. However, this one has a mouthpiece that goes with it that I think belongs with it...Something special, but it has no name on the mouthpiece just three lines on the bottom and one on the top. A great set-up for a hard to find 444 with no cracks. This one is really the best one I've found, but I've got so involved with a certain metal conn that I'll never get around to playing this wonderful clarinet. It should be played, and if you like to play like Artie Shaw then you need this clarinet...Buy it now for $950 complete with great mouthpiece, vintage reeds, large size case, oil and swab.
I have two others, pictured below that I will also sell for $590, and $650 respectively. Both of these clarinets clarinet had been professionally banded to deal with cracking and the repair has held up with the test of time. Both are good players, and only minor adjustments required at most. The first one, at $590 has a Vintage Woodwind Steel Ebonite mouthpiece included, and these complement this model quite well. case is a little shabby, but it also will include swab, oil and vingtage reeds. THIS ONE HAD A KEY REPLACEMENT THAT PUT THE MIDDLE JOINT OFF CENTER. To accomodate my arthritis I left it like that, but you may want to make adjustments. Plays well with like new leather pads.
The second one that is banded is also pinned, and again, this solves a problem that almost all 444s have with cracking. This great clarinet also has like new leather pads, and is a good player that was played a lot and maintained to keep playing. It would be perfect despite the amount of play it got over the years if you cared to swedge a key perhaps.
If it sounds all bad--It's not. If anything like these clarinets were made today they would cost thousands, and there was perhaps no better jazz clarinet ever made, so the repairs were justified to keep them playing, and minor adjustments to have something so fantastic for you to play shouldn't be a problem, but I have to tell you...
SATISFACTION GUARANTEED
If you buy one of the banded clarinets, and you don't think it's good enough for you, then you can send it back and get a merchandise credit--apply your purchase price to the nearly perfect 444 I have if I still have it, or select another clarinet I have available (I have too many really good clarinets, so I'm sure to find something else that will thrill you if one of these doesn't.
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