[biscuit]

I have been given an old Selmer series 9 clarinet. It isn’t in playing condition at the moment; it needs a repad and one of the tone holes to be built back up. It also is in need of a barrel… Apart from these problems, it seems like it could be a nice clarinet and the key work seems to be pretty solid. The repair shop told me it would be around a $300 job. Is it worth it? Also, could anyone give me any history/critique of the series 9? Any info would be helpful.

 

[Kontra]

I'm no expert on them, but they're generally accepted as professional clarinets. Whenever I go to my lessons, my teacher has a Series 9 sitting next to me. He uses it to teach. The only bad thing I've heard is that they can have intonation issues.

 

[Wilbur]

I own one. I've had professional players ooh and aah over it. I recently spent $162 for partial repad and maintenance. It would take over $3000 to replace it with a new one of equal quality. However, you can find used ones for $700-800. If it's really what you want, it's worth it. If you were to get a new professional model, then you would have to decide between a few of (judgmentally) equal quality. Namely Selmer, Buffet, LeBlanc and some others. If yours is really good, I'd say it's worth $300, and players typically use custom barrels. Good luck!

 

[bandmommy]

A $300 repair bill for a freebie Series 9... It might be worth it.
They are very nice clarinets when set up correctly.

 

[martinm5862]

I'm no expert on them, but they're generally accepted as professional clarinets. Whenever I go to my lessons, my teacher has a Series 9 sitting next to me. He uses it to teach. The only bad thing I've heard is that they can have intonation issues.

I have a 9* which doesn't have any intonation problems like my Series 9. My Series 9 was sharp on the low A. A#, B and C just like the Leblancs from the same period. The Series 9* is a smaller bore clarinet like the Buffet R13 and dirt cheap.

 

[Kontra]

I have a 9* which doesn't have any intonation problems like my Series 9. My Series 9 was sharp on the low A. A#, B and C just like the Leblancs from the same period. The Series 9* is a smaller bore clarinet like the Buffet R13 and dirt cheap.

Interesting. My teacher's Series 9 is sharp up in the altissimo.