What’s really interesting is that a new book is about to be published about the entire commercial history of the Heckel firm, and it will include all serial numbers of the bassoons they have made.Įdith Reiter has been researching the subject for some years through the old records and the book will be finished shortly.Ī Schreiber bassoon takes many months to produce as the wood is allowed to settle after each operation. In principle, each year started off with a new hundred series. Deliveries do not always coincide with these. The numbers mentioned were produced in the year shown. The serial numbers for the older years are drawn from and have been supplemented with the most recent information from Edith Reiter of the Heckel firm itself. Serial #102 is the next to be completed with #128 the next available.
Serial numbers as at the start of the calendar year.Ĭurrently, Ben and four employees produce an anticipated 15 to 20 bassoons per year.Ĭurrent orders result in a 12 to 16 month waiting period. That apart, the instruments are the same, as are the serial numbers. Apart from that, little or no value was or is attached to them under the Eastern Block system.īassoons have been made with one of these 2 names since the 1920s, so that the different businesses could retain their exclusivity. The only function of the numbers was during the production. Serial numbers were never kept when Graslitz was part of Czechoslovakia. The delivery dates are much more accurate for firms that add the numbers to their instruments at the end of the production process.
This means that a bassoon with a serial number from late 2005 might easily be completed or delivered in early 2006. Making a bassoon involves a few hundred manufacturing stages, any of which might delay the manufacturing process. One factory might number the instruments at the start of production, after which the parts will be kept together at all times, but the delivery dates can then start to diverge. There are various points during the production process when a number can be given to a bassoon. So these numbers should not be taken too literally. Our numbers have been provided by the factories themselves, but there’s always an overlap period, because the production period covers several months. We’ve hunted down the serial numbers for virtually every make of instrument.