Selmer, Recital A Clarinet
A Selmer Recital A clarinet in Silver plate, which has seen much customisation. This instrument is a commission sale for Clarinets Direct. The former owner is an Italian professional. The customisation is as follows: 1. An automatic corrective vent has been added to the low F. This pad remains open when low F is fingered, however, once the register key is depressed, for the clarion register, the fully automatic additional correspondence mechanism overrides the lower vent & the pad closes. This corrects the over wide F/C twelfth. 2. A different, shorter bell, by Pruefer, has been fitted which helps correct the inherent flatness of the low E/B twelfth. 3. The second highest trill key hole has been re-positioned, again to improve tuning.
The normal Selmer Recital design features a long reversed cone throughout the top joint, which results in exceptionally accurate and stable tuning, this example improves even further on that. There is no damage to the Grenadilla wood, which is crack and repair free. The pads are all white leather in very good condition, apart from the register key pad, which is in cork. The Silver plating overall is very good with no loss. This A has serial nos. C8732, which dates to 1983. The barrels are a Recital of 62.5 and a Selmer Signature barrel of 64.5mm. The case is a BAM which is in excellent condition. This instrument would suit a player looking for a top professional model with excellent tuning, at far less than the price being asked for modern clarinets with equivalent, or, in most cases, inferior tuning solutions.