Klarinet Archive - Posting 000348.txt from 2006/02

From: Joseph Wakeling <joseph.wakeling@-----.net>
Subj: Re: [kl] Buffet Festival
Date: Mon, 27 Feb 2006 19:38:07 -0500

Bob and Deborah Shaw wrote:
> How many of you play the Buffet Festival. How does it compare to the
> R13. I have read that it is basically the same bore, but the wood is
> better quality-ie. non stained, more stable wood versus the R13 which
> has stained wood. If you play a Festival, I would like to hear from
> you. The Buffet site says that the Festival has a warmer sound, is
> that true?

They seem to be well-received by players (including me). The Festival
is part of Buffet's top-of-the-line series of instruments (alongside the
RC Prestige, the Vintage, etc.) whereas the R13 is just the "standard"
professional line. However, this doesn't necessarily mean that it's
automatically "better". Like all such things getting the right
instrument for you is the important thing, and there's much variation
between individual instruments---in testing out clarinets I've found
some R13s that are better than some Festivals. There is also a
top-of-the-line version of the R13, the R13 Prestige, but again, it's
not axiomatically better.

The only worthwhile advice is: it's a widely-played model, you should
certainly try out examples, but you should pick a clarinet on the basis
of how well it works for you rather than what the name is. *All* of the
top Buffet models---R13, RC, DG, RC & R13 Prestige, Festival, Vintage,
Elite, Tosca---are great designs. But so are the top models of Selmer
and Leblanc and Yamaha and Howarth's.

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