Klarinet Archive - Posting 000460.txt from 1998/08

From: ROBERT ABRAHAM <rkabear@-----.net>
Subj: [kl] Prestige R13
Date: Mon, 17 Aug 1998 16:22:39 -0400

I did specify in my first posting that I didn't know if the production has changed in Prestige models since Boosey and Hawkes took over Buffet. My Prestige was pre-Boosey and Hawkes, and my paperwork some 11-12 years ago specified about handworked keys and toneholes. It may be different now. Buffets in at least the last 6 years have all been coming from the Boosey and Hawkes owned Buffet Company unless they were old stock from a warehouse somewhere.

As for the weight of the instrument, the Prestiges (R13 and RC) have *always* been of a different wood. This would account for resonance and the expanding/contracting of the wood also. The metal tenon rings are a *must* in humid areas or areas of wild weather / temperature / barometer changes because Buffets are quite known for cracking. (Wonder why this was never a selling point of LeBlanc?) And the rings are great for putting the horn together without a struggle...

I know the R13 is the standard, but even besides the difference in the resonance/wood, by the time you add the silver plated keys, tenon rings, and auxiliary Ab/Eb, you are paying for the Prestige. I figure for as long as most people would own a horn, a Prestige would be something to wait and save for, instead of getting an R13, unless you really prefer the sound of an R13 with the regular R13 wood.

Kelly Abraham
Woodwinds/Computer Geek
New York City
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The design differences between the Prestige R-13 and the standard R-13 are not as great as one would suppose from the above postings. I was a Buffet dealer for about 6 years and I could never get anyone at Boosey &Hawkes to spell out the differences other than:

1. Premium wood
2. Silver plated keys (Which are the same weight as standard silver
plated R-13 keys)
3. Alternate Ab/Eb key (A nuisance in the original design, now
improved)
4. Tenon caps

I have no evidence from the work I have done on many dozens of Prestige instruments (including my own) that there is any additional hand finishing of the tone holes. I see about the same amount of rough edges and detritus left over in the tone holes on both models.

The bores are supposed to be identical. The tuning is supposed to be identical.

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