Bass Clarinet - Bass Clarinet --- Unusual CHARLES BAY

Charles Bay bass clarinet in case, excellent condition, ready-to-play. This instrument begins life as a Leblanc Vito 7168 (low-Eb on body) instrument, which is then modified by Dr. Charles Bay with: (a) undercut toneholes; (b) all key heights raised and tonehole shoulders reshaped for better venting; (c) keywork modified slightly for more comfortable hand position. Included is a Charles Bay re-angled neck which provides a mouthpiece angle into the mouth similar to that of a soprano clarinet, much more comfortable for most players. Finally, this instrument has been tuned and regulated, and slop/noise removed from the mechanisms, by David Spiegelthal (me, that is -- I'm a professional woodwind technician specializing in bass clarinet restorations and modifications, and mouthpiece refacing; and I've been playing bass clarinet semi-professionally for over 25 years). There are two points which should not alarm you but need to be noted: The bell was missing when I purchased this instrument, and because of the "low-Eb on body" design the Vito 7168 uses a unique bell with an enlarged tenon diameter -- since I have not yet been able to locate such a bell I fabricated some adapter tubing from PVC pipe for the bottom bow and used a standard Vito metal bell flare section to make a bell --- sounds hokey, but looks pretty good and works great. Also, as with many Vito basses, the center tenon between the two body joint segments had broken sometime in the past, so I have reinforced the center joint with two very robust plates, visible in the photos --- these plates hold the instrument securely together for use but can be removed in the future for maintenance. The overall sound and intonation of this bass clarinet are excellent -- despite its humble origins as a student-line instrument, this Bay bass clarinet would serve even the advanced and semi-pro player quite well. The case is original and has structural problems but is safe for shipping and could be reinforced for daily use with very little effort. The plating on the keys, neck and bell is very good, with wear on the finger contact points. As with all my instruments and mouthpieces, there is a one-week trial with full refund (less shipping) if not completely satisfied. An excellent custom-refaced mouthpiece is included. Please feel free to email me with any questions, or for references.