[GT]

Happy Saturday from Mid-Atlantic U.S.
I have a Centaur clarinet made in Italy that my parents gave me in about 1965. It appears to be grenadilla. I haven't played it for years and I was wondering if anyone has ever heard of such a beast.
I did a couple of quick searches both here on the site and on the net but didn't get any hits.
What do you think? Rampone, maybe?
Just curious...

 

[milandro]

if it were a saxophone there are only so many brands that could have made it but a clarinet makes things way more complicated.

Rampone & Cazzani certainly made many clarinets but in 1965 it is way more likely that it was an Orsi. I am not familar with the stencil brandname " centaur" does this clarinet have any distinctive features?

you may want to contact the Bate's collection

https://www.bate.ox.ac.uk

I am afraid that if the clarinet has no distinctive feature you may never discover who made it

 

[Reet McVouty]

Happy Saturday from Mid-Atlantic U.S.
I have a Centaur clarinet made in Italy that my parents gave me in about 1965. It appears to be grenadilla. I haven't played it for years and I was wondering if anyone has ever heard of such a beast.
I did a couple of quick searches both here on the site and on the net but didn't get any hits.
What do you think? Rampone, maybe?
Just curious...

Yes, these clarinets were handcrafted by ancient Italians that were half man, half horse. They were in strict competition with a group of flute makers known as Satyrs. It's all there in the history books ....