Heckel Bassoon, Heckel Contrabassoon, Heckel CREST Bassoon and Heckelphone Serial Numbers

Last update: Wednesday, December 03, 2008 6:13:05 PM

This set of web pages contain tabular listings of Heckel bassoons™, Heckel CREST™ bassoons, Heckel contrabassoons and Heckelphones™ by serial number and year of original delivery. The phrases Heckel, Heckel Biebrich, Wilhelm Heckel, Wilhelm Heckel Biebrich, Heckel bassoon, Heckelphone, and Heckel CREST are registered trademarks of Wilhelm Heckel, GmbH, located at 7 Stettiner Straße, Wiesbaden, Germany. A list of credits for this information appears at the end of this page. A small set of unofficial obscure facts about the Heckel firm can be found here.

Contributing Information to this Project

These web pages are a work in progress; if you have any additional information or corrections, please Email the information to Mike Frederick or James E. Roberson. Please note that even though current ownership information may be available for particular instruments, I absolutely will not publish it, even if I have it. What I would like to publish is interesting notes about an instrument; such as unusual keywork, unusual wood, etc. Also interesting would be the instrument's history--sales, rebuilding or keywork added, used in the world premier of Mahler's Symphony #5, etc.

Notes Concerning the Instrument Tables

Our databases only includes information we have collected about instruments over the years; this is by no means a complete list of the instruments built by the manufacturer.
The date listed is the date of original instrument delivery. Dates listed in italics indicate that the date is an assumption based on other contemporary instruments; no hard evidence has been obtained to ascertain the exact date.
Note that some instrument listings are tinted a light reddish color. This means that according to our most recent notes, this instrument is listed as stolen.
I now have the capability to also provide links to images: if you have pictures of an instrument I can make them available from this web page. Also any interesting relevant documents would be great--such as shipping paperwork, etc. Any ownership information will be removed before making the image available online.

Serial Number Tables

Serial number information is available for (click on an instrument to go directly to its serial numbers table):

Factory News Flashes

[May 2002]

The factory stated in January of 2002 to a prospective customer that they will no longer be manufacturing CREST bassoons with their patented India Rubber lining. The instruments will be made with a synthetic rubber liner. The explanation given was that the supplier of the material was discontinuing production of the basic material for ecological reasons. When asked about the Heckel model 41 bassoons, a company spokesperson said:

For our Original Heckelbassoons Mod. 41i, we still use kautschuk, made in another type of vulcanisation.

In fact, apparently all model 41 bassoons have been produced in this manner since some time in 2000.

[January 2003]

The factory will stop using nickel plating on all keywork soon. This is due to new German regulations. These regulations have been instituted due to that fact that some individuals are allergic to the nickel plating used by the factory.

Credits

The initial inspiration for this site was provided in a posting to the International Double Reed Society (IDRS) discussion Email list on February 19, 2001 by FagotAtelier Maarten Vonk. The following individuals/groups have supplied information which made the presentation of this data possible:

Heckel company sources.
A large amount of data was kindly provided by J. Laslie Woodwinds.
A large amount of data was provided by Lars Kirmser at Music Trader.
Web sources such as eBay® and the For Sale sections of the Bassoon.org, MusicalChairs.eu.com and IDRS web sites.
Charles Music Company has provided information concerning instruments they handle for sale.
The For Sale section of the International Musician and Das Orchester.
Other sources who wish to remain anonymous

Legal Rights and Uses of this Information

The documents contained on this web site are provided for entertainment purposes only. The information contained in these documents represent the analyses and opinions of several collaborators. As such, it may prove wrong and be subject to change without notice. Although the information provided above is based on careful research and sources that are believed to be accurate, the data were gathered over many years and from many sources. The web site collaborators do not guarantee the accuracy or thoroughness of the data or information reported.

INFORMATION PROVIDED IN DOCUMENTS PRESENTED BY WWW.HECKELBASSOONS.INFO IS PROVIDED "AS IS" WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EITHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND FREEDOM FROM INFRINGEMENT.

The user assumes the entire risk as to the accuracy and the use of this document. This document may be copied and distributed subject to the following conditions: 1) All text must be copied without modification and all pages must be included; 2) All copies must contain my copyright notice and any other notices provided therein; and 3) This document may not be distributed for profit.

Last update: Wednesday, December 03, 2008 6:13:05 PM