Klarinet Archive - Posting 000256.txt from 1998/04

From: Kenneth Wolman <kwolman@-----.net>
Subj: Re: And apropos of old instruments....
Date: Mon, 6 Apr 1998 23:00:09 -0400

At 09:39 AM 4/6/98 -0400, Kenneth Wolman wrote:
>Saw one in a repair shop on West 55th Street in NY, used. I've heard of
>Buffet, obviously, but this had the name "Auguste Buffet" stamped in the
>usual places.
>Real silverplated keys, I suspect: it was a tarnish-remover's dream. But
>it played beautifully, and the guy wanted $600 for it, mouthpiece and case
>included. The repairman was of the opinion that it was probably some model
>that Buffet made for about a year(?).
>
>Anyone ever heard of this particular brand-within-a-brand? If so, that is
>the story behind it?

Followup to this report.

The repairman is Perry Ritter, who seems to have a rather prestigious NY
clientele. I went back in there, asked if he wanted to trade the Selmer
(for which I've been told $750 is a fair price) for the Auguste Buffet.
Turns out the horn belonged to Ken Peplowski, who is happy with his
collection of R-13s and has no use for the older clarinet, but is selling
it (for $600) on consignment. Well, I don't have a disposable $600 laying
around this week (call the song "The Ex-Wife Blues":-). It IS a
beautiful-playing horn: even though Ritter did not fix it, he checked it
over and it seems perfectly okay. If anyone feels a need for such an
instrument, he's listed in the phonebook. He's at 150 West 55th Street.

Ken

"The East River. But it was not a river at all. Merely a column of water
connecting the upper harbor to the Sound. Yet everyone called it a river.
They chose not to think about it. They clung to the surface of things."
--Peter Quinn, "Banished Children of Eve"
Ken Wolman kwolman@-----.com/SoHo/Gallery/1649