While they do resist cracking very well, a bad batch of wood caused some of these clarinets to de-laminate, which ruined their reputation and production ended after just a few years. Since the laminated wood did not take stain well, the clarinets were left unstained and this, coupled with the very bold and symmetrical grain pattern, made these strikingly beautiful instruments. When the laminated billets were turned on the lathes to produce clarinet bodies, a very beautiful false grain pattern was revealed. The main idea was to create a clarinet which would not crack. “I believe, Conn began manufacturing clarinets out of laminated wood (essentially thick plywood, similar to what is used to manufacture wooden aircraft propellers) to be sold under their cheaper Pan-American brand. They came in plastic or Cocobolo plywood.īill Hausmann sez this about the instrument in the Klarinet Archive: Unsubstantiated sources say the same wood was used in the manufacture of WWII B24 Liberator Bomber Propellers’, hence the nick name “Propeller wood clarinet”. Turns out this instrument was an ingenious solution by Conn to the scarcity of Granadilla wood during the Second World War. It was dirt cheap and at this point unplayable without an overhaul. It is more commonly known as the propeller wood clarinets. I purchased this striking Pan American “Violin Finish” clarinet (made by Conn) that was mistakenly described on eBay as made from pear wood.
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