Special Offers
Leslie Craven’s own pair of Leblanc Opus B Flat and A Clarinets - £3,950
Now retired from performing, Leslie Craven is reluctantly offering his beloved Leblanc clarinets for sale.
Click the play button below to hear the b flat in action on Les’s latest CD - Romantic Clarinet Quintets
Les is selling his beautifully re-furbished Leblanc Opus clarinets that have featured on almost all his CD recordings of the last twenty years. Totally renovated by ARCS Clarinet Service (Andrew Roberts) these clarinets play better than any new clarinet on the market as they have been padded in a very special neoprene system invented by Andrew. The system ensures a 100% seal and the key return is so silent there are no annoying percussive clicks or extraneous, undesirable mechanical noises.
Due to the padding system being so efficient the spring tensions on the key work are very comfortable, light and well balanced.
The clarinets are presented with specially selected custom Craven/Sonoro Barrels and Bells specially fine tuned to the individual clarinets.
The original Barrels and Bells are included in the price should the new owner prefer the sound of those but Les recommends his personal selection of custom items selected especially for his latest recording “Romantic Clarinet Quintets” .
In addition Leslie recommends the inclusive Kooiman thumb rests but standard adjustable thumb rests can be fitted and supplied by The Clarinet Company for no extra cost. The Bb is an Opus II, the A an original Opus I but both have exactly the same sound profile. There are very slight key layout differences but not that could be detected after playing for a short while.
The Opus II has adjusting screws on the crows foot but the A does not, however the key strength is such that they stay in regulation and adjusting screws are almost unnecessary on these robust professional instruments. Leblanc are famous for the quality of their key manufacture.
Les, as is true of the ethos of his company is asking a very modest £3,950 for the entire package in a beautiful lightweight double case and includes Ultimax cork lubricant and micropore swab. There are two original Bells and four original barrels. Les is also offering a free Craven Professional mouthpiece which has been tuned with the custom barrel on each instrument.
This package represents a truly unique opportunity to own a pair of clarinets that have been played with many of the worlds finest artists including the cellist “Hauser” on Leslie’s CD recordings. The total ARCS refurbishment cost almost £2000 and hence this really is a fair price to ask for such beautiful instruments and Les will be sad to see them go but hopes they go to a deserving home.
Leblanc style 17key Nickel plated C clarinet Ex Demonstration Model
Standard package: £550
Includes Mouthpiece, case, swab, cork grease, 2 barrels, long & short.
Total package with all custom extras £799
Add a custom barrel and bell and Craven Sonoro mouthpiece and Silverstein Quattro ligature for just an extra £249 - excellent value. (if bought separately the custom extras would cost over £500, the wooden barrel and bell are over £245 normally so to get the pro mouthpiece and Silverstein ligature makes a great package deal)
This ex-demonstrationmodel nickel-plated 17 keyed C clarinet is a free blowing well tuned example of the C clarinet with Leblanc style key work also found on Ridenour clarinets. It has a robust build with in-line jump trill keys and all the same acoustical features as our other hard rubber clarinets and is offered for sale by The Clarinet Company as a one-off bargain.
It does have slight wear on a ring key and one or two other keys but this is very slight and is purely cosmetic due to being tried and used by us as a demonstration model.
It was originally part of our stock bought in some years ago but nowadays is a different design from our Sonoro SM offerings, hence we are advertising it as a one-off. It plays beautifully and has been set up and thoroughly tested by me, Les Craven and fettled and matched to barrels to play extremely well in tune. This clarinet will do someone a real favour whether or not the extras are taken. If the buyer does not have the funds for the extras right now we will honour the price for the extras should they at a later date decide to add them.
This is a genuine bargain and anyone looking for fantastic value would do well to snap this one up - there is only one so when it’s gone, it will not be repeated.
Our previous special offer C clarinet, a prototype, was taken by a lady (Kelly) who posted us a fantastic review about it. This Leblanc-style instrument is an honest reduction based on the time we have had the instrument, not because it is inferior in any way, on the contrary it is a tried and tested design played by many professional players.
If taken with the all-inclusive Total Package the new owner will have a totally professional outfit with all the extras for less than the price of one of our latest new C clarinets which demonstrates our ethos to give players a chance to afford a great clarinet at fair pricing, hand-finished and tuned by Leslie Craven. Free postage to UK is standard with a week trial but if the clarinet is sent back postage both ways (around £20) will be deducted from the refund to cover our re-stocking costs.