Sold SML Five Star Sold $900
These are my favorite clarinets. They can hold their own against the R13 anyday and they were manufactured to do so. They are wonderful horns. They have exceptionally even intonation from low E up into the altissimo, clear throat tones, and a beautifully big sound. I sold one several months ago, here is what that buyer said after testing it:
"I just spent two hours playing my clarinets, these being my 1994 R13, As SML Strasser, and this Five Star that you sent me.
Wow, what a nice clarinet. PERFECTLY tuned, dark sound, rich altissimo register, really good throat Bb. One would be foolish not to keep and play such a fine horn, and I am not foolish. SOLD."
I could go on, but there isn't much need for it. Like most SML horns, they are highly sought after, and subsequently, heavily guarded by a small community of people for a reason: they play so well.
As can be seen in the pictures of the top joint, the horn for sale here had two cracks in the upper joint that I have repaired with two bands of carbon fibre. So the sale price of this clarinet is lower than it would be otherwise: $900.
The overhaul on this clarinet was done by myself, eight months ago. The Ab/Eb and F#/C# pads on the lower joint exhibit the dark ring in their seats that is common on closed keys on clarinets that have been oiled in the overhaul.
Will the crack re-open?
It is not likely. Cracks are caused by an outward force within the joint finding a weak spot, once the crack happens the stress is released. The crack is then filled while it's still open instead of being allowed to close back again which will only reopen later on; An already cracked and properly repaired clarinet is, if anything, less likely to crack than one that hasn't.