Kohlert and Sons Kraslice Bass Clarinet

Introduction: Oh yes, the poster child of this whole website and probably the weirdest instrument I have ever purchased. While not one of my smartest purchases, this horn has played so many famous roles in my music career that it has become a staple of the collection and I can more than overlook its flaws for its uniqueness and its years of fine service to me. I bought this strange old bass clarinet on eBay during my senior year of high school in 2018 and it served as my only bass clarinet for quite some time afterwards. Though it needed a lot of work and to be honesty I overpaid for it, I was very excited about it and quickly grew attached to it. Since then the Kohlert went on to play many successful concerts, some rather professional gigs, a number of auditions that this instrument had no business showing up to, and it has been in so many recordings of mine and recordings of others that I couldn’t even start to list them all off. Though I don’t play it as much now, it still comes out for practice and recording every now and then and I am sure it will continue to appear on my albums. This horn is like a good old friend, and I will likely keep it my whole life.

General Information: Internet research suggests that this Kohlert bass clarinet was made in Czechoslovakia prior to World War II and the companies move to Germany around the same time. Its full engraving reads: “V. Kohlert and Son’s, Made in Kraslice, Czechoslovakia” and I believe that it was made sometime before 1930 and was probably as a pretty high end instrument for its time baring some similarities to both Selmer Paris and Buffet instruments of the same time. Kohlert went through a number of changes and rebrandings over the years that followed and finally went out of business in the 1980s. As such Kohlerts are no longer made, but the name is now being stamped on Chinese made off branded clarinets shaped objects (CSOs) that have no relation to the original Kohlert brand of Czechoslovakia.

Playability and Tuning: First impressions on this bass clarinet are fantastic. It is punchy and responsive in all registers, and the tone doesn’t get airy at all at lower volumes with crisp rich tone that responds well throughout all dynamic levels. Projection is absolutely amazing on this horn and its sound really caries, which makes it great for solos and exposed lines. The Kohlert’s early example of an automatic double vent register key mechanism makes the clarion register pop right out with ease, and I would almost call it too responsive in some areas if that is possible. The sound and feel are quite distinctive and I have yet to play another bass clarinet, even those $12,000 low C horns from Buffet and Selmer that can even come close to the tone, richness and projection of this Kohlert. Intonation however is another story entirely. The intonation issues with the Kohlert are numerous and take much awareness and a lot of unconventional methods to tackle. The lower clarion B and C are in excess of 20 cents sharp, while the throat A below them is over 10 flat, and then the open G is about 12 cents sharp just to give you an idea. Then you go down a bit further and F# is 15 sharp, F is 10 flat, E is pretty much right on and D which is like 25 cents sharp, and so on and so forth. Going up, the whole upper clarion is so sharp that you have to lip down almost comically to get it even close to tolerable minus of course lower clarion Eb/D# which is randomly like 15 flat. I have tried different mouthpieces, reeds, and tried adjusting key heights and nothing seemed to help. And there is little you can do to adjust your pitch as you cannot pull out the neck without misaligning the double register vent on the neck, and the neck has no other adjustment in the middle like some higher end bass clarinets of today have. I am not sure what Kohlert was thinking here and I have to wonder how exactly one is expected to tune this instrument. Surely they can’t mean for you to pull out the mouthpiece? Honestly, I could work around some of this especially given how good the Kohlert feels to play and I understand that all instruments have tuning issues that the player must learn to work around, but then you play the throat Bb, and there is nothing I can do to help this. That early automatic double vent register key mechanism sure makes the clarion register pop right out, but it produces a terrible throat Bb in the process. The note sounds through the double vent on the body, and it is so stuffy and flat that it sounds more like a really sharp A than a Bb at times. I have read on some forms that it may be possible to replace the vent with a larger one or relocate the vent, but I do not have the tools or the skills to do such a thing, nor do I want to risk damaging the instrument in the process. Again, how does Kohlert miss something so critical on an instrument that is otherwise quite well designed? It kind of makes me wonder if this thing was even play tested before it was sold, because I think even an novice player would notice these problems fairly quick. It is truly a shame that tuning is such a mess on this horn given how nice it feels to play otherwise, but using this thing in an ensemble can be quite a task especially if your music has a lot of throat Bbs, and you never truly realize just how much you can actually hear a bass clarinet in a concert band until you are out of tune on every note you play…

Construction and Build Quality: The two piece body is made of Genadilla black wood like most higher end clarinets, and I must say this old wood has held up excellently for its age with only tiny hairline crack on the lower joint that I didn’t even notice until I had own the horn a few years. I have had many friendly debates with techs regarding the true age of this horn because of the condition of its wood, but all I can say for sure is that it was made well and must have been taken care of during its nearly century long life. The keywork is laid out nicely and when properly sat up it has great action and feels good in my small hands. It feels more similar to a Bb clarinet with a low Eb key on it honestly which I really like, and of course this makes playing it a lot easier. The keywork metal is kind of soft though and bends easily, and there is lots of evidence of keywork being soldered back together in rather crude ways (not by me). I think that the neck shares this same soft metal, as it was kind of pulled down when I got it. On the topic of the neck, the tenon for the mouthpiece is really big, and even mouthpieces with thicker corks are still loose. Not really a problem as you can always recork your mouthpiece to fit it, but it is an oddity worth noting. The craftsmanship of the instrument is very good otherwise, and the hand engraved logos and writing really make the instrument feel classy and expensive. Oddly enough, there is no peg assembly on the bell and the only way to hold the instrument up would be to hook a strap or harness to the single ring on the lower joint. I have seen this on other bass clarinets from this era and it kind of makes me wonder if using a strap on a bass clarinet was once more common than it is now.

Case: I truly have no idea if the case I have is the original, but it is just ok and gets the job done. It only has room for the parts of the instrument with no space for other accessories. The parts of the instrument fit loosely, and the upper joint in particular moves around a lot. Overall, the case is kind of a fail unfortunately, although to its credit it is quite small and light and the plastic handle is comfortable in the hand unlike some more modern handles I have found on higher end instruments. The latches also work well and stay closed unlike some other cases I own for other instruments.

Conclusion: The Kohlert is a strange old bass clarinet from a different era of clarinet manufacturing and design. From its original needle springs to its crazy looking register key mechanism, this instrument is certainly unique and fun for my own personal enjoyment. That being said though, I don’t know that I could recommend it as an instrument for practical use unfortunately, even in a high school band and that mostly comes down to its severe tuning issues. The numerous issues require unnecessary alternate fingerings and major embouchure adjustments that could end up affecting your tone and your technique in negative ways, and none of this is going to help that hideous throat Bb at all. And combining that with its nonstandard designs and the fact parts for this horn are about as extinct as the horn itself, most techs won’t even bother to mess with a horn like this and will tell you to just buy a new one. While I hate to say that, it is a reality as I have had this happen with a few techs regarding the Kohlert myself. In spite of this though, the Kohlert has been a huge part of my musical life and I am glad to own such a cool piece of clarinet history that still works after being on this earth for almost a century. Its unique tone and design will never be forgotten and I do plan to keep it and keep playing it for fun and recordings, as I would likely loose money selling it and its sentimental value far outweighs its momentary value. Like I said at the beginning, this horn is a faithful old friend that has always been there and has seen me change and mature as a musician, and the places it and I have been and the music we have played together will always be remembered. I hope that the Kohlert and I will keep making great music together in the future.