Barnard Instrument Repair Inc.

Berg Larsens have the tip opening, tone chamber, and facing length engraved on the shank. Let’s look at some examples! On the left of the first picture is a 115/2 SMS. The “115” indicates that the tip opening should measure around .115.” The “2” indicates that it has a “round” sound. The “SMS” is typically shorter with a steeper curve. On the right of the first picture is a 110/3 Offset SMS. The “SMS” is not centered with the rest of the text and is therefore referred to as “offset.” This indicates that it’s a vintage from their golden era of production. Swipe for more examples!

Here’s a vintage Berg Larsen pamphlet! The first page has an overview of the gold-plated bronze, stainless steel, and ebonite models. On the bottom left, the table shows the different openings for Bb clarinet and the four main saxophones. In bold are the most popular choices. On the bottom right, they list the tone chambers and what sound they typically have. The second page shows what reeds they had for clarinet and saxophone. It also shows the information for their ligatures and caps