Klarinet Archive - Posting 000032.txt from 2006/03
From: "Rommel John Miller" <rjmiller@-----.net>
Subj: Re: [kl] Updated Buffet Crampon USA Information
Date: Fri, 03 Mar 2006 18:26:49 -0500
To Tom Henson,
Thanks for that great advice Tom, I take that to my heart, because yours are
great words of true wisdom.
Morrie Backun gave me the bad news on my second R-13, and what bad news it
was and I am a little shy to even put #3 together without someone with good
technical knowledge giving it the once over in Baltimore first.
Morrie Backun was here last Sunday for a thing at the Peabody, and boy was
it great, but for me a big bummer.
But I am going to give Mark's Music a try, especially on the R-13 A I plan
to buy.
A for know though, out comes Dr. Slick and away I go to grease the corks on
the 3rd R-13, and I AM going to shine a light down that baby and have my
Chromatic Tuner on full when I blow my first tones! And if I get any
anomalies, (beyond what I am used to) back she goes. When I heard the
sometimes people have to go through between 8 and 10 or even more R-13's
before they fine a "sweet one" I know that with WWBW I might be in it for
the long haul.
All the best.
Rafi
----- Original Message -----
From: <Tom.Henson@-----.com>
To: <klarinet@-----.org>
Sent: Friday, March 03, 2006 4:38 PM
Subject: RE: [kl] Updated Buffet Crampon USA Information
> Hi Rafi,
>
> I know that you are working with WWBW on your R-13 Bb, but you may want
> to keep in mind a place that I bought my R-13 A from. I deal with Carl
> Marks of Marks Music in Hermitage, Pennsylvania. Carl is the third
> generation to run the store and they have very good luck getting only
> the best, hand selected Buffets to sell in their store. Carl told me
> that all of the Buffets that they get are hand selected at the warehouse
> and I have to believe that this can and does make a difference. Of
> course, set up is very important also. Carl goes over all the clarinets
> before he ships them out to make sure they are working perfectly. He
> told me that this is a tradition and philosophy that was started by his
> grandfather, and then his father. Check out their history on the
> website. Even today, they sell Buffets all over the world to
> professionals, teachers, and their students because of this.
>
> One must keep in mind that the lowly R-13 is the bread and butter of
> Buffet and as such, the most mass produced, besides their student
> models. While the overall quality is high, some clarinets just are made
> better than others. Using computer controlled machinery has certainly
> helped to produce a more consistent product quality wise, but there is
> still some hand finishing. Then there is also the wood. Some wood is
> just better than others and machines better. That is why everyone on
> this list will recommend trying as many clarinets, and as many brands as
> possible. R-13 to R-13 will vary, sound wise and quality wise. However,
> it is still possible to get a very good R-13 is you are picky and know
> where to go. Also keep in mind to try and budget a little money to have
> the clarinet professionally set up by someone you trust. R-13's can
> still be brought up to a very high level of playing in the right hands.
>
> As a matter of fact, Buffet just drop shipped me a new R-13 Bb that
> Francois Kloc (director of Buffet USA) picked out for me at the main
> warehouse. Carl made the arrangements to have this done and I just got
> it in today. The A clarinet that Carl sold me had also been hand
> selected by Francois from the warehouse and then hand selected again by
> John Weigand who frequents his store and grades many of Carl's clarinets
> for his students and fellow professionals. The A clarinet is, so far,
> the best R-13 A I have played on. It plays every bit as good as any Bb I
> have owned.
>
> I have nothing but good things to say about dealing with Carl Marks.
> Their price for my Bb was within $50 of WWBW, but I got very personal
> service, a truly hand picked clarinet, and a dealer whose owner plays
> clarinet and has three generations of knowledge repairing Buffets and
> dealing directly with them. They have a very good relationship with
> Buffet going all the way back to when Daniel Bonade was a close friend
> and teacher of Carl's father. Carl told me that he grew up eating Sunday
> lunch at the house of Robert Marcellus and hanging out with many of the
> leading clarinetist of the time back in the 60's.
>
> Here is their website and good luck on # 3:
>
> http://www.marksmusicstore.com
>
> Tom Henson
>
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> Klarinet is a service of Woodwind.Org, Inc. http://www.woodwind.org
>
>
>
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