Couesnon & Cie Monopole Professional Wooden B Flat Clarinet. Antique.

Serial number: 347949

This Couesnon has late 19th century / early 20th century boehm keywork style which has only one post for the left hand pinky keys, leaf springs instead of needle springs for the C#/G# key and the F#/C# key, and a flat tone hole for the C#/G# key. There are scratches on the wood of the clarinet and a hole on the barrel that has been filled by the previous repairer by what looks like shellac. The keywork is in relatively good condition, apart from a few posts I had to cut and replace because of rusted hinge rods that no amount of lubricants can move. I repadded the clarinet with Valentino pads and replaced all the tenon corks. I also cleaned and oiled the body and bore. It tunes slightly higher than 440 (perhaps 444?) and the tuning is a bit inconsistent between registers. This clarinet sounds very French.