Originally Posted by Oric Muso
- Antique Clarinets Value
- Pan American Clarinet Serial Numbers 160337
- Conn Pan American Clarinet
- Pan American Trumpet Serial Numbers
Pan American clarinets were, alas, very low quality. Actually, my very first clarinet was a PanAm, soon switched for a Bundy. The striped surface you see is laminate -- i.e., plastic -- over a black plastic interior. I have a pan-american saxophone with the serial number 34397. Also the number 1153-88 is listed on the saxophone. The date of 9/14/15 is also engraved on the saxophone.
Are all instruments with a P serial number considered a Pan American? I've heard differing stories on this. Some say if it doesn't have Pan American on the horn then it isn't.
This is a good question. Not all instruments with 'P' are Pan American. For example in 1971, Conn used the 'P' but added a hyphen. I have also seen the 'P' used by other brands on woodwinds. Pan American also used a 'W' on early 1920's saxes. Pan Am used an 'A' on its International brass line in the 1920's, but stayed with the 'P' on saxes.So if a sax has the typical Pan American identifiers: 1914 or 1915 patent, 'Mercedes' style low C guard, an a 'P' number, without hyphen from P1001 to about P32850, it's very likely a Pan American.
Antique Clarinets Value
The same would be true for the 'W' numbers except they would only have the 1914 patent and the range from about W4100 to W8220.The date range for the P looks to be 1920 to 1928 and the W from 1920 to 1922.