|
|
SIOMA ALBERT SYSTEM PLATEAU CLARINET, c1936 This rare and venerable, though not valuable, instrument was bought by my father from new, at Alex Burns Ltd in Shaftesbury Avenue. Two brothers handled manufacture (in France) and retail (in London). The shop ceased trading when it was bombed in the second war. The design was intended to be used by sax players who doubled on clarinet, as one had to in those days.
The clarinet got into quite a decayed state latterly, and my father declared it was irreparable. However, a few years after his death I took it on as a project, to build some repair skills. I dismantled the rods, which were rusted solid, got rid of the ironwork in alum, and made new rod screws myself before respringing and repadding it. It was hard to tell if I did a good job as I'd never played a clarinet before, but it seems to bear comparison with my daughter's school clarinet (which I also now have).
It would benefit from some professional input, but at present I don't play it enough to warrant the expense, though it's appeared on a couple of recordings. |
|
|
|
|
