I am a band director in Tennessee. Out of the blue yesterday a woman calls wanting to donate some instruments to us if we want them. I am trying to date them and the bass clarinet is a problem.

It says its a Bundy Resonite made by Selmer. The problem is the serial number. It only has 4 digits - 1951. Nothing has be rubbed/scratched/etc. off. Just four.

Do I have a knock-off? The music store woodwind folks can't find anything out and I haven't received a return phone call from a parts guy at Selmer itself.

Any help would be great!

I know nothing about tracing clarinets or clarinet manufacturing history, but this strikes me as a curious story. I don't understand why you feel you need to vet the clarinet if you're getting it free. What does it matter when it was made or whether it's really a Selmer Bundy whatever? Just see if it's in working condition. Nevertheless, if its supposed serial number has only four digits and those for digits are "1951", does it not occur to you that you might be looking right at the answer to your original question? Are you sure that 1951 is not, in fact, the date, the very thing you wanted to discover?