 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: sfalexi
Date: 2005-01-12 20:08
Just wondering. Anyone know of any cases where a person stuck to playing their ORIGINAL professional clarinets that they bought? I know Drucker always ends up "going back" to his buffets with his name inscribed on them, and that's pretty close, but anyone know of any examples where someone never even bothered trying other ones?
Might be hard to back up as "fact", but even just in rumor I'll take it. Cause while searching and reading past threads, I notice people buying and selling ALL the time. And others hoarding. Sometimes even up to 13 Buffet R13s!!!! (ahem ahem . . . no names . . . or well-known initials . . .![[right]](http://test.woodwind.org/clarinet/BBoard/smileys/smilie8.gif) )
Alexi
US Army Japan Band
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Author: Katrina
Date: 2005-01-13 03:15
Alexi,
I'm still playing on the 1969 R13 (111xxx) that my folks bought me used in 1983. I don't think I'll ever want to switch...this horn is so much a part of my that it would be like having an arm transplant or something. My A clarinet, another R13 (275xxx) is much later, and was the first instrument I ever bought myself (1986, h.s. grad money!), and while it can drive me nuts, I don't want to switch it out either!
Katrina
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Author: Burt
Date: 2005-01-13 04:25
I moved up to an R-13 in 1953 (after one year of playing) and am too cheap to replace it. Instead, I bought an "A" and three saxophones.
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Author: jamie talbot
Date: 2005-01-13 07:11
Two years ago,I went back to my B&H 1010 after eleven years on a R13.
It was like reuniting with an old flame.
I had the 1010 when I was seventeen,and everybody in the UK played them,just before the R13 fad took hold.
I,ve never been happier with my instrument.
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Author: Fred
Date: 2005-01-13 13:48
While I flirt with a wide variety of other clarinets, my only "absolutely wouldn't part with" clarinet is my original 1966 R13. It is my benchmark for all my other adventures, and has never been surpassed. I'm currently playing a 435XXX R13 that has promise.
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Author: William
Date: 2005-01-13 14:24
I still have and play my set of R13s (64xxx's) which I bought when in college during the 1960s. They were both selected by a "professional" in NYC at the request of a local Buffet dealer and have proven, over the years, to great instruments. Although I have recently been playing LeBlanc Concertos exclusively, I often return to my old set of "reliables" just to keep my musical feet on the ground, so to speak. I may not be as good as Drucker, but we apparantly share the same passion for our "original" pro clarinets.
(perhaps I should get out the engraving tool...............)
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Author: Dano
Date: 2005-01-13 15:04
I have an Evette-Buffet Master Model that I bought when I was 19 in the 70s and while that is not really a typical pro clarinet, I cherish it as if it were. I have 2 R-13s, a Selmer 10G, 9, and a new Concerto II and I still have to pick up that Master Model once in awhile just to listen to the "70s" once again. I would not use it for serious work, but it does feel like my right arm. Or since I am right handed, my left arm, cause my Selmer 9 feels like my right arm. By the way, as always, Brenda has the best answer.
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Author: Avie
Date: 2005-01-13 16:00
Before I returned to playing a few years ago I tryed every model and type of clarinet I could get my hands on while traveling up and down the east coast. I really didnt play well enough at the time to know what to look for in the tone and key response but I finally bought a 1968 R13 and me and my clarinet still seem to be improving. I think a good reason to stick with it. I may buy another one if I outgrow it or am pursuaded some day to do so. So I guess wo far my answer is almost the same as clarinetgramy's
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Author: Don Berger
Date: 2005-01-13 19:40
I like all the posts by you "young folks" , but prob very few can top my "1st pro cl" story. As best I can recall, it was about 1932 when I bought my teacher's 1920's Penzel Mueller [U J cracked/pinned/ringed] Full Boehm, which he had played in movie-house pits, to accompany SILENT pictures !! I played it thru JHS, SHS and 2 years of Mich State Band, dance bands, and what WW II playing I did {always "lipping-up" its flat upper clarion] until the early 1950's when we were organizing our struggling Bartlesville Symphony. When I tried to be our orch's oboist, a good cl player borrowed it and added a few years to its playing life, when he died unexpectedly, I had a hard time to retrieve it from his widow ! I still have it, play it occasionally [ah, Nostalgia], but have "messed-around" with many cls since, ending up as the Tulsa comm band's bass cl'ist, now just a playing "old geezer" What a musical life !! Don
Thanx, Mark, Don
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Author: mattahair
Date: 2005-01-13 21:40
Well, I can't top that one, considering I've only been playing for about 12 years, but if anyone out there happens upon a NP R13 ser#436144 I'd LOVE to have it again!
I just purchased my second clarinet this year in hopes of finding a suitable horn for my continuing education: a Festival R13. Anyone have any thoughts/comments/experiences with the Festival?
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Author: Joel K.
Date: 2005-01-13 23:27
I still have my R13 bought in 1972 for my high school graduation which I was still using until last year.
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Author: Carol Dutcher
Date: 2005-01-13 23:49
Yes I have my first professional clarinet which is a Buffet, think I got it in 1969 or 1970. I even use the original mouthpiece a lot of the time. It is in beautiful condition, and seems to sound better all the time. Maybe it has something to do with the wood. The keys still shine. I have the original case handle duct-taped together and carry the clarinet case in a "gig" bag that I got for a present. It holds clarinet, music books and many other goodies. The new R-13 I bought a few years back just didn't hold a candle to this one, so I eventually sold the new one.
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Author: chumbucket804
Date: 2005-01-14 01:58
I still have mine and love it to .. then again I got it on August 23, 2004 :D! but I do hope to keep it for forever!!
eliz
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Author: clarinetist04
Date: 2005-01-14 03:27
Sounds like a lot of people still HAVE theirs but don't really play them (not all of course!). One of my old teachers, the asst. principal in the navy band, used her first r13 (from high school) on every concert I saw her in (and there were a lot of them).
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Author: Katrina
Date: 2005-01-14 04:18
Nope, clarinetist04...I'm one of those who DOES play her first pro clarinet exclusively.
Katrina
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Author: DavidBlumberg
Date: 2005-01-14 12:14
I sold my 1st Pro Clarinet to an advanced student back in 1989 and within 3 years he had burned it out. Not the body of the Clarinet itself, but the keys were completely raw - no more nickel plating.
He wore it right off! Must have been in his hand acid, but all of the contact points on the Clarinet got as rough as sandpaper. Would have been a good replating case.
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Author: rc_clarinetlady
Date: 2005-01-14 18:59
I got my R-13 in 1974 and have played it ever since. Nothing else feels as good under my fingers as it does. I suppose it just feels like a great pair of gloves that never wear out. I don't think I buy into the whole idea of older instruments blowing out either. If you take good care of them then they just get better. The wood on this clarinet is just wonderful and the keys are still in great shape too. I've changed mouthpieces .........but not clarinets.
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Author: donald
Date: 2005-01-14 19:44
i did play one pair of Yamahas for about 15 years, but that's not why i'm posting
last night i got a phone call from a dance band/jazzer here in Auckland, he wanted me to do some mouthpice refacing for him.
he has been playing the same Buffet R13 in shows/gigs (mixture of pro and amateur playing) since 1961!!!!! Most of that time he used the original mouthpiece that came with the instrument, but last year he swapped to a Vandoren 5JB.
He wants me to fix a chip in the old Buffet mouthpiece and see if i can revive it, plus assess the facings of the two mouthpieces and see if i can make the Vandoren match the Buffet a bit better (he is realistic that an exact copy is not possible. i'm looking forward to hearing/seeing this Buffet mouthpiece.
donald
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Author: AJN
Date: 2005-01-14 21:29
Still playing on the pair of R-13's (both manufactured in 1962) that were bought for me in 1963 at the end of my sophomore year in high school. They were worked on by Moennig himself when still brand new, have always been great instruments, and still are--especially the Bb. "Blowout"? Ha!
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Author: Contra
Date: 2005-01-15 02:05
Pro clarinet, ha. I still use half of my first beginner clarinet.
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