 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: cj123
Date: 2015-01-06 01:51
Hi - I'm looking at possibly buying a Buffet bass RC Prestige clarinet for my clarinet mad daughter, and had a couple of questions (not being a clarinet player myself) and would appreciate some advice from someone knowledgeable.
1. Does it matter if an instrument is quite old - say 50 years? Or are new ones better?
2. Is there any way to tell the age of an instrument from its serial number?
3. Does the Buffet RC Prestige bass clarinet go to low C or low Eb?
4. Whats a rough idea of what I ought to expect to pay for such an instrument?
Thanks.
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Author: tiagocunha
Date: 2015-01-06 02:00
I advise to see one that is being sold on that auction site, I think the bidding ends in 5 days. A Buffet bass is an expensive instrument, it goes to low C and costs slightly less than 10000 €.
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Author: Chris P
Date: 2015-01-06 02:29
The RC Prestige bass was available in both low Eb and low C forms - they have far more complex keywork than the Prestige basses from 1999 onwards, mainly the entire automatic speaker mechanism which has all manner of levers, linkages and adjusting screws and is very reliant on spring tensions being properly balanced.
I know someone who recently bought an early '90s RC Prestige low C bass from clarinetsdirect and he brought it over to me to do some fettling to get it all working correctly as the speaker mechanism was causing him problems. His one is the late model RC Prestige which has the front low D touch which is very handy - they have this as standard on the most recent model which was launched in 1999 and the keywork on these newer ones is nicely balanced and lightly weighted as opposed to Selmer basses which have very short leverages on some keys making it much harder work (although Selmer basses do have the better sound in my opinion).
I own a Prestige bass from 2000 and its a great instrument - the tone is slightly different compared to the earlier RC Prestige bass but you'd have to hear both side by side to notice the difference.
Former oboe finisher
Howarth of London
1998 - 2010
The opinions I express are my own.
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Author: clarnibass
Date: 2015-01-06 09:18
1. Yes, a very old instrument is more likely to be in bad condition than a new one. Though not necessarily. It could also be in excellent condition (and a recent one might be awful). It's just something to consider.
2. Sometimes.
3. Yes. That is, some are low Eb and some are low C.
4. I guess depending on low Eb/C, how old it is, the condition, etc. probably from $1,500 to about $6,500 (for a used one).
Post Edited (2015-01-06 13:39)
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Author: Ed Palanker
Date: 2015-01-06 18:31
Never buy a used instrument, or even a new one for that matter, without having a professional try it out for you first to check the intonation and evenness throughout the instrument. I've seen some nightmares in my days. Find a pro, it's worth paying them for their time. Never buy a clarinet, especially a used one, blind.
ESP eddiesclarinet.com
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Author: cj123
Date: 2015-01-07 14:12
Thanks for all your comments, its helpful. I have bought used instruments before from auction sites, without having someone check it out beforehand, and havent had a bad experience yet. Maybe I have just been lucky but I've always been careful. In the case of the Buffet prestige bass currently on a well known site as mentioned by tiagocunha, I asked the seller for more details but did not get a reply.
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