Klarinet Archive - Posting 000784.txt from 2000/09

From: "Clark W Fobes" <reedman@-----.com>
Subj: [kl] Oops on Nickel Silver an Serial #s
Date: Mon, 25 Sep 2000 12:39:02 -0400

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Sorry all and thanks for those who caught my mistake. As soon as I sent =
that message off I went and checked some notes and THEN recalled that =
"german silver" indeed has no silver.=20

One point made by Morrie was that it is easy to buff out any swedging =
marks on german silver. It is also TOO easy to buff off the crisp edges =
that one like to see for proper fit. But german silver does clean up =
nicely when you make a silver solder joint.

Regarding favored serial #'s.

Now this is highly subjective, but some of this is based on instruments =
that I have worked on and some based on preferences other professionals =
have mentioned.

Generally, I have not liked instruments made prior to approximately =
85xxx. This is not to say that good instruments prior to that don't =
exist. From my purely non-scientific, but empirical observation ca =
85xxx represents a move towards better tuning (not so sharp). =
Instruments from ca 85xxx to 110xxx tend to have a really free, =
beautiful sound that is absent from current intruments. After 110xxx =
there is an obvious key design change. After 110xxx the C# / G# spring =
becomes a needle spring instead of a curved flat spring. The sound is =
different in this next group and, in my opinion, not as good.

In the mid 70's I was working as an apprentice repairman at a shop that =
sold Buffet clarinets. I was in charge of inspecting and testing the =
clarinets as they came in. It seemed to me that the instruments starting =
with 136xxx were quite remarkable. Also, I believe it was 1975 that =
Buffet made a run of what they called the "Anniversary" model. Any of =
these that i have tried were exceptional instruments, especially the A =
clarinets. These will say "Anniversary" and are somewhere in the 153xxx =
to 163xxx range.

I noticed another significant change around 225xxx which would be =
approximately fall of 1982. This is a period when Buffets became a =
little more restrictive sounding, but the tuning is improved.

I was a Buffet dealer from 1990 until 1997. During that period I can not =
say that I observed any "remarkable" vintages . I travelled to =
Libertyville about 3 times a year and usually tried 40-50 intruments =
each time. It was discouraging to see how many instruments were being =
made with substandard wood. While the key work was generally very good, =
the attention to proper pad alignment was dismal. I was fortunate that =
Boosey & Hawkes were open to allowing me to try these instruments before =
purchasing them. I sold many nice instruments during that time, but I =
played many, many dogs. During this time I felt that the best clarinets =
were often the silver plated R-13s.

I sold several Prestige clarinets during this time as well. Clearly ( to =
my ear) a good R-13 Prestige was the best instrument Buffet had to =
offer. But curiously, it seemed that there was a lower percentage of =
good Prestiges.

The RC Eb clarinets from this period were excellent. Wish I had bought =
one!

I offer this information not as any kind of "definitive" grading of =
Buffet clarinets. Everyone has his/her favorite instrument that may or =
may nor fall into these groups. So please don't flame me if my =
observations are different than yours.

Clark

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