Noblet Alto

Serial Number 6994

SOLD - Oct. 2009

Whaddya think of the second photo below? A leetle bit out of focus?

I spent a good amount of time on this horn.
It now plays top-to-bottom, and it has a very nice, light, fast touch, like many of the Noblet altos I have worked on. Might be a good one for you Charlie Parker wannabes to try.

I enjoyed playing it with a high baffle mouthpiece which really brought it alive under my fingers.
That kinesthetic feedback is important to me...I like a horn to feel lively under my fingers.


It would be worthwhile to take all the keys off, clean the keys and pads and body, and then re-assemble the horn, paying attention to 'tightening' up the key action.

All the same, this is a real sweet made-in-France horn.

The serial number is kind of low, but the keywork doesn't seem old-fashioned in the least.

You could tell that Noblet was trying to kick it up a notch with this horn to compete with you-know-who.
It has two-piece articulated side Bb and C.
Not only does it have adjustment screws on the bridge between the lower stack F# and the G# and Bb bis keys, but the adjustment screws are on a slider that allows for adjusting the arc of swing between the key linkages. I didn't say that very clearly.
The low C# key is a 3-part linkage.
The linkage between the G key and the octave mechanism is fairly unique.
The bellkeys are articulated 2-part keys that pivot on an arbor mounted on the bell rather than being single-piece keys that cross over from the body to the bell.

This horn could have been made in the 60's or 70's.

Dent on bottom of bow (see pictures).
Relacquered

It comes with the nice case pictured, marked Boosey & Hawkes