Klarinet Archive - Posting 000150.txt from 2004/11

From: "Shaw, Kenneth R." <krshaw@-----.com>
Subj: [kl] Is It an R-13?
Date: Thu, 4 Nov 2004 15:34:08 -0500

Michele Kaeder asks whether Buffet S/N 48544 is a (polycylindrical) R-13
(designed by Robert Caree).

There's no definite answer. The U.S. catalog from that time is no help,
because the pre-Carre (non-polycylindrical) Buffets had an R-13 catalog
number, even though it was not the official model name.

One reasonably reliable difference is the shape of the key guide for the
two top trill keys. On the non-polycylindrical instruments, it was flat
sheet metal bent in a flat-bottomed "U" shape and tapered toward the
top, in a blunt triangle. On the Carre R-13s, the guide became a
cylinder with a slot cut down through it.

Buffet made changes in design over the years and "streamlined" them into
the manufacturing, without announcing them. I've seen all sorts of odd
keywork on older instruments.

I asked several repairmen, including Moennig apprentices, when Buffet
made particular changes in keywork, and what serial number the first
Carre R-13 had, but no one has been able to tell me much.

Part of the problem is that the Carre changes were not introduced
simultaneously, and there were various experimental models in the early
1950s.

48707 (1954 or -55) is the highest pre-R-13 SN I've heard of. The lowest
R-13 SN I've found is 48830 (1955). However, there were prototypes of
the new design sold around that time. I've seen one, without a serial
number, which the owner told me he bought at the factory in 1954.

Also, many (or perhaps most) of the Buffets played by U.S. professionals
in the early and mid-1950s went through the Moennig workshop and were
altered along the same lines as the Carre design.

In the end, everything depends on how the instrument plays. If it's in
tune and you like the sound, by all means go for it.

Best regards.

Ken Shaw

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