Klarinet Archive - Posting 000890.txt from 1998/04

From: "Kevin Fay" <kevinfay@-----.com>
Subj: Re: And apropos of old instruments...
Date: Fri, 17 Apr 1998 06:05:11 -0400

D. Stanley Hasty used a pair of pre-R-13 Buffets for his entire
career--as far as I know, he uses them today. Thomas Puccio in
Rochester did some custom keywork on them, but I believe that the bore
is stock (at least as stock as it could be after 60 years of swabbing).

I don't know how many of you on the list have ever had the opportunity
to hear him play. There are/were certainly no shortcomings in either
tone or intonation.

kjf

----Original Message Follows----
From: DGross1226 <DGross1226@-----.com>
Date: Mon, 13 Apr 1998 22:50:39 EDT
Subject: Re: And apropos of old instruments...

In a message dated 98-04-13 19:42:42 EDT, you write:

<< It is a poor practice to add keys to antique or historical
instruments,
which this one certainly is. Leave it alone, play it as it is, let it
be what
it is. >>

I recently inherited my uncle's "newer" 1935 Buffet R-13 (Serial No.
18836)
which also did not have an adjusting screw on the G# key. Also, the
lower G#
post served as the LH post for the A key (three posts instead of the
current
four). Roger Garrett's earlier description of his Serial No. 555 could
have
easily applied almost exactly to my horn. I had shared my initial
experiences
with the horn with Tom Ridenour and received the following reply which I
don't
think he'd mind me sharing with the List:

"The large bore of the 1930 instrument will cause the right hand low
register
to be sharp in relation to the rest of the horn, and most especially in
relation to the second mode right hand pitches. The primary reason
players
switched to the R-13 in the first place was not because of tone, it was
because of tuning: it had an acceptable sound, but lacked the extreme
sharpness of the larger bore clarinets which dominated the market until
the
R-13. Makers knew for years that smaller bore clarinets tuned better,
but
until the R-13 the tone was too strident. The R-13 yielded an
acceptable
sound..........and much better tuning ratios."

Needless to say, it seems that Roger and my experiences -- at least with
these
two vintage Buffets -- differ from Tom's.

Don Gross
La Canada, California

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