User:Gisbert K/Uebel

The company F. Arthur Uebel GmbH (FAU) is a German manufacturer of clarinets with headquarters in Wiesbaden and production facilities in Markneukirchen (Saxony).



History
The company, founded in 2010, sees itself in the tradition of the clarinet manufacture founded by Friedrich Arthur Uebel (1888–1963) in 1936 in Markneukirchen. Uebel was the son of the woodwind instrument maker Friedrich Gustav Uebel (1855–1915) and had studied with the clarinetist and clarinet maker Oskar Oehler (1858–1936) in Berlin to learn the craft of clarinet making. After Oehler's death on 1 October 1936, he opened his own workshop in Markneukirchen under the name F. Arthur Uebel, taking over Oehler's customer base and also the construction method of the Oehler Clarinet, producing high-quality instruments for professional clarinetists.

In 1984, the factory was nationalised and merged with other wind instrument manufacturer. After the Peaceful Revolution, the company was privatised in 1990 and the production of Uebel clarinets continued as a dependent part of the business. In 2005, for economic reasons, the production of Uebel clarinets in Markneukirchen was discontinued.

The music dealer Arnold Stoelzel GmbH in Wiesbaden acquires the rights to the name as well as the design and production documents and has Uebel clarinets manufactured in China. In 2010, Jürgen Stoelzel founds the current company in Wiesbaden with a branch in Markneukirchen and sets up a production facility there where Uebel clarinets are again manufactured, mostly from parts made in China.

, the company manufactures clarinets with German and French system (Oehler / Boehm) as well as accessories. The product line of Boehm clarinets has been greatly expanded in recent years. At the beginning of 2022, the company moved into a newly built production facility with an office extension in the Markneukirchen industrial park.

Products
All clarinet models are made of grenadilla with silver-plated machine heads, the higher-priced ones also of mopane with silver-plated or gold-plated keys. The company produces clarinets with both the German and the French system, which is becoming increasingly important.

With the German system, three soloist models are offered in B♭ tunings, one of which is also available as an A clarinet. Furthermore, two standard models in B♭ and A and one in E♭ are produced, as well as three beginner models in B♭, one in C and one in low G, and finally a professional bass clarinet reaching down to low C.

With the French system there are seven professional instruments in B♭ and A, one of them also as a basset clarinet in A and another also as a C and as an E♭ clarinet, besides – as a special feature – a plateau (capped) clarinet in B♭. Then three standard models in B♭ and a bass clarinet reaching down to low C are offered.

Distribution
The distribution has been taken over by the company Arnold Stoelzel GmbH in Wiesbaden, whose sole managing director is again Jürgen Stoelzel. In Europe and South America, the company uses the established music trade, while in the USA, China, Japan, South Korea, Thailand, Russia, Australia and Singapore, it has called on the services of local general distributors.

Endorser
Well-known F. A. Uebel players include:
 * Giora Feidman
 * Alexander von Hagke
 * Ricardo Morales