 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: janlynn
Date: 2001-10-26 14:05
i will be trying a Buffet "vintage" soon . i would like to hear any thots about this model from anyone who has tried one or anyone who has one.
thanks
JL
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Author: Beth
Date: 2001-10-26 16:07
I bought a new Vintage buffet 2 years ago after my old R-13 was stolen. I absolutely love it! The wood is beautiful and it has wonderful tone for me. I got mine through The Woodwind and The Brasswind and a very reasonable price and excellent customer service. I don't get on this site much anymore so if you have any questions for me, please email me personally.
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Author: L. Omar Henderson
Date: 2001-10-26 21:26
I love my Vintage, especially after a recent tune-up and professional adjustment by John Butler who does superb work. At Clarinetfest I had the wonderful opportunity to try out myriads of horns, most of the pro-models at the show were very good - Selmer, LeBlanc, Buffets (of course I went up and down the Buffet line twice). I find that it is the horn partially and mostly the player - this is of course why we have very staunch advocates for different brands and those that have found the horn that matches the "sweet spot" of the player, making it the best horn that they have ever owned. If you are very good then try out a bunch yourself - maybe even get a better player than yourself to try some out - in the end it will be your decision. The majority of players are not limited by the horn, but all the qualities of the horn may be limited by the player.
The Doctor
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Author: Micaela
Date: 2001-10-26 21:50
I've read that this clarinet is very similar to the old R-13s (I play a 1956 R-13). What is the difference between a Vintage and an older R-13 other than age and price? Are they very different of is it virtually the same clarinet design?
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Author: Pat
Date: 2001-10-27 01:35
I know the biggest difference is the slightly higher locatation of the register key. This improves intonation on the higher notes. I liked the vintage when I tried it out at the Oklahoma Clarinet Fest. It had a nice focused but dark sound. A kid in my studio at school just got a new one and he loves it. I have an horn from the late 60's i bought from my teacher. I had Guy Chaddish move my register key up to the festival location which I hear is slightly higher than the vintage location. I love what i did for my horn. The vintage is worth trying out.
pat
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Author: Keil
Date: 2001-10-28 01:46
My private teacher back home plays on a Vintage and every now and then he'll let me play on it in a lesson, i love the tone color it produces, i noticed that it's somewhat heavier than my R13 and some tone holes are a little bit larger but it gives an absolutely gorgeous tone... i've decided that my next clarinets i buy will be Vintages...
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Author: Daniel
Date: 2001-10-29 17:27
From my experience the Vintage R-13 is nothing like the original R-13's from the 50's. I love the Vintage my teacher has. He doesn't use it much because the focus isn't quite as tight as the plain R-13's and he has trouble matching the principal ini the ballet. But he uses it for TUTS and for now while his R-13 is getting worked on. Someday, when my R-13 craps out, i hope i can get a Vintage as nice as his. :-(
Daniel
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Author: C@p
Date: 2001-12-08 15:57
I also am looking for comments and anecdotes about the Buffet R-13 Vintage clarinet that came out in the mid ‘90s (I think).
Mine has a sound that I best can describe as a well rounded golden tone. It is not extremely dark although it is not at all a bright sound. It comes with two barrels. One is a V2 while the other is a V. The V is much brighter than the V2. If I remember correctly, the V2 emulates the Moennig and the V emulates the Chadash.
With the understanding that all tones are to be judged subjectively by the listener, I found that when our band director filled in for a missing clarinet part on his R-13 of many years of age, he sounded good, but not as good as when he tried my Vintage. He noted that the altissimo F6 is flat as I relate below.
(My first reaction was: Why can't I make it sound like that. My second reaction was to try to find a way to have already played for 30 or so years as a professional clarinetist practicing perhaps up to four hours a day.)
Tone is the primary concern I had when looking for a new clarinet. The Vintage is a little longer and the lower keys seem just a tad lower requiring a little bit more of a reach. The left hand F/C key is somewhat lower too. It can be raised by bending it (by a professional) but it still feels a little uncomfortable to get to. If you are a woodworker and like fine furniture, you will like the visible grain of the Vintage. One of the barrels is almost rosewood in color.
Having said that, I am having a great deal of trouble with intonation. It could be that when I was playing my old Evette-Schaefer I was playing the second clarinet part and not going much above G5. Now in the second chair of the first clarinet part, I am up there and higher a lot. There is a lot of the discord wavy sounds as I try to keep the instrument from playing sharp above C5 until the altissimo where it seems to go flat at D6 and above. It seems to play in tune beautifully in the lower register. There is not much natural buzz in the lower notes.
It could very well be that I am still biting too hard notwithstanding the effort to change my embouchure from a tight smile to an Ooooohhh with an EEE inside. I have been trying the double lip exercisers and that is lowering the tone some.
But aside from my inherent tendencies to play sharp (on a VanDoren B45), I notice that the notes do not seem to be in tune with each other.
D4 and A6 seem very stuffy on long, sustained notes. Db4 and Ab4 are also stuffy.
E4 and B6 and going a half step flat by the side key or the chromatic key are all focused. But they are stuffy and slightly flat when the bridge is used.
F6 (altissimo) is flat where most of the notes I play are sharp. I have to bite hard to try to get it in key. G6 is also a little flat.
Other Vintages I tried also had these characteristics.
Mine was further undercut at either the C4 or the D4 hole and the bell was opened at the top to emulate the bell of a Festival (or was it a Prestige). It did not correct the tonality of these notes. The undercutting seemed to lessen the focus of the low B3.
Changing reeds only effects the whole of the instruments and does not affect the individual problems.
While considering what I have related, please understand that some of the problems could be my playing technique. While I had thought about making a warranty claim and getting a new horn, I decided to work more on me and wait until the year is almost up to see if that makes a difference.
I am very much interested in what experiences or anecdotes anyone else has had with the R-13 Vintage.
C@p
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