Normandy 4 Bb Clarinet – Professionally Refurbished

The Normandy 4 Bb clarinet is a well-known vintage intermediate clarinet made in France — and this example has been professionally refurbished by Kowal and Son LLC in Gainesville, FL. Manufactured in the late 1970s by the Noblet workshop in La Couture-Boussey, France during the LeBlanc Corporation era, it is generally described as sharing a bore design with the Noblet 40/45 series. Players interested in a vintage wooden clarinet may appreciate this instrument’s materials, design, and individual playing character. Response and tonal preferences vary by player and setup.

What Makes the Normandy 4 Special

The Normandy 4 was in production for many years. Features of this instrument include:

• Grenadilla (African blackwood) body, barrel, and bell

• Boehm system, 17 keys / 6 rings with nickel-plated keywork and inline trill keys

• Bore design associated with the Noblet 40/45 series

• French workshop construction from the La Couture-Boussey manufacturing tradition

The Kowal and Son Restoration Process

At Kowal and Son LLC, every clarinet is restored by hand in our Gainesville, Florida workshop. This is not a wipe-down and flip — it’s a full mechanical restoration checked with a leak light before listing. Here’s exactly what we did to this Normandy 4 Bb clarinet:

• Full disassembly — all keywork removed, posts and pivot screws inspected for wear and play

• Body and bore cleaning — interior swabbed and cleared, exterior cleaned, tone holes inspected and dressed as needed

• New pads installed — double-bladder pads sized and seated individually on each tone hole

• New tenon corks — upper joint, lower joint, and barrel tenons recorked and fitted to proper resistance

• Spring tension adjustment — all needle springs set for consistent, responsive action across the full range

• Full regulation and play test — every note tested from low E to high C and leak-light checked

We replaced the pads and tenon corks described above, regulated the mechanism, checked for leaks, and play-tested this clarinet before listing it for sale. Our assessment describes its condition at the time of testing; response, intonation, and playing feel can vary with the player, mouthpiece, reed, and subsequent care.

Who Is This For?

• Students upgrading from a plastic beginner instrument to a real wooden clarinet

• Adult returners who want quality without the cost of a new professional horn

• Band programs needing a play-ready instrument at a fair price

• Vintage collectors who appreciate genuine French woodwind craftsmanship

About Kowal and Son LLC

Kowal and Son LLC is a father-and-son woodwind restoration workshop in Gainesville, Florida. We personally restore every instrument we sell — no outsourcing, no shortcuts. Our process is rooted in hands-on training and a genuine passion for keeping vintage wooden clarinets in playing condition. Every instrument is play-tested and leak-light verified before it leaves our bench.

kowalandson@gmail.com | 352-327-8352

Purchase information: This is a used, refurbished instrument. Please review its photographs and description for the condition and work performed. Eligible instrument returns are governed by our Refund and Returns Policy. Our limited workmanship warranty covers defects in the refurbishment work we performed, not every component or pre-existing characteristic of the instrument; see Our Promise and our Service / Repair Terms.