 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: Bill
Date: 2006-02-21 22:51
I just acquired a very old wooden Buffet mouthpiece with the logo on the back "bottom."
Oh my gosh! What a beautiful sound and high register! Any other enthusiasts out there? I scored with this one!
Bill.
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Author: Vytas
Date: 2006-02-22 02:28
Congratulations Bill! You've got yourself the best mouthpiece there is.
I think you're already familiar with (bottom logo) Buffet/Chedevilles hard-rubber mouthpieces. These are beautiful blanks. With a little work on the baffle and a good facing these mouthpieces play beautify especially with a Vintage Pre-R13 horns, but these wooden mouthpieces from Buffet are fantastic! Usually these mouthpieces are warped and the biggest problem is they are dimensionally unstable. (Oiling is not much help and no one wants chemically treated mouthpiece in his mouth. There's safe treatment for these mouthpieces but I can not discuss this).
So, you're lucky to find one in playable condition. Try to play it for about an hour. If the wood is stable there will be no change in sound. If not - the facing might shut closed completely.
I worked on many HR Lelandais/Chedeville mouthpieces from that era (one line up, one line down) I can tell you these wooden Buffet mouthpieces are identical.
Vytas Krass
Custom clarinet mouthpiece maker
Professional clarinet technician
Former professional clarinet player
Post Edited (2013-02-27 15:06)
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Author: David Spiegelthal ★2017
Date: 2006-02-22 03:00
My one experience with a Buffet wood mouthpiece was not so good. I got one a couple of years ago with an old clarinet, and it played awful -- I had to reface the !@#$%^&* out of it to get it to play. Too much work for too little return in that instance.
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Author: Gregory Smith ★2017
Date: 2006-02-22 03:40
I've a couple dozen in my collection and believe that the tradition at the time they were made was to include a mouthpiece in the case that actually played well and in tune with every clarinet that they were selling...a package deal.
Not sure whether vulcanized rubber was available at the time these particular m'pingo mouthpieces were being made for inclusion with Buffet clarinets.
All that I know is that the Buffet hardwood grenadilla mouthpieces that I've stumbled upon over the years are some of the most beautiful playing mouthpieces around...and took little or no adjustment...and have not changed over the years due to the fact that the wood was aged properly, well taken care of, and was of high quality to begin with.
They are actually the inspiration for my inclusion of well aged hardwood mouthpieces that I offer.
Gregory Smith
Post Edited (2006-02-22 03:41)
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Author: john gibson
Date: 2006-02-22 12:29
I too have an old wooden Buffet mouthpiece and wouldn't sell it for a million dollars....well....maybe a million.
It is one of the best mpc's I've ever played and that's saying a lot since I'm a crystal Pomarico junkie.
JG
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Author: Ken Shaw ★2017
Date: 2006-02-22 14:42
I also have a wood Buffet mouthpiece. When I got it, the facing was badly warped, and it didn't play at all. On Kalmen Opperman's advice, I soaked it in linseed oil for a year, and then let it dry for 6 months. He turned it into what he said was one of the best mouthpieces he ever made, and I agree.
Kal said he put a very small curve in the table, which disappeared as the mouthpiece got wet. He also advised treating it occasionally with sweet almond oil.
The mouthpiece plays very easily, with a sweet sound that carries to the back of the hall. Its outside dimensions are slightly smaller than most mouthpieces.
Ken Shaw
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Author: Bill
Date: 2006-02-27 19:19
Ironically, this mouthpiece comes into my life at a time when I had finally decided they were all pretty much the same - within a certain level of craftsmanship. Except for the super-rare (the hot mouthpiece this year seems to be the "Artistic Facing," "Steel Ebonite" Chedeville/Lelandais), I've played on them all. But this wooden Buffet has just changed my mind. I've never played on anything this good.
Bill.
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Author: Bill
Date: 2013-02-27 01:00
Spent an hour playing one tonight. Still my favorites.
Bill Fogle
Ellsworth, Maine
(formerly Washington, DC)
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Author: Lelia Loban ★2017
Date: 2013-02-27 13:26
Bill, I notice you're in Washington, D.C. Several years ago at the Georgetown flea market, we both missed out on one of those mouthpieces, for E-flat clarinet, in the case with a nice old Buffet eefer. I arrived at the seller's booth just as another guy (a friendly rival who used to set up at the Civitan flea in Arlington but recently moved away to Florida) was buying the clarinet. We'd seen each other at the gate and made a semi-joking agreement to walk up different rows. I move pretty fast but I wasn't fast enough to get to the middle before he did. Damn.
Well, when he showed me his find in triumph, I noticed that mouthpiece. I also noticed the case, in worn-out condition with jiggly latches, so I offered him a strap I carry in my bag for that sort of thing. Nah, thanks, but he didn't need it. Off he sauntered, swinging the case by its handle.
My husband later saw him crawling around on the asphalt, hunting and patting around with his fingers and picking up little things.
Fast-forward to Civitan. He had the clarinet up for sale for not much more than he'd paid for it. He'd glued the mouthpiece (missing a few bits) back together, with SuperGlue, unevenly. The clarinet had some damage as well, but I bought it anyhow just to get it away from him!
Lelia
http://www.scoreexchange.com/profiles/Lelia_Loban
To hear the audio, click on the "Scorch Plug-In" box above the score.
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Author: Bill
Date: 2013-02-27 15:20
That's really a rabbit/hare kind of story Lelia!
Very early in my experience with the clarinet I bought (in auction) a very old wooden mouthpiece with LELANDAIS in block capital letters on the front and bottom (near the tenon). My teacher at that time refaced it but it never played properly in the altissimo. Vytas Krass helpfully remarked that it was probably made for an Albert System clarinet. Thought that was fascinating.
I go in phases with my clarinetistry, but I have to say that I could easily play nothing else but old Buffet wood mouthpieces. Despite all the glorious and historical rubber I have, I'm only playing these wooden pieces now. I have about five of them. Years ago I sold one that I had bought from Chester Rowell. I really regret that!!!
Bill Fogle
Ellsworth, Maine
(formerly Washington, DC)
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Author: modernicus
Date: 2013-04-03 16:22
I just got one of these with a ca. 1890 JTL Boehm high pitch Bb I bought. I thought you guys were exagerrating, but I played it and it is something special! I'm still trying to work out if it was meant for a high pitch clarinet, but I can play reasonably in tunew/ my 66mm barrel pulled out about 2mm on my Yamaha CS. Coincidentally, I have e a late 1800's early 1900's clarinet I believe to be a Couesnon that came with a 68mmbarrel and I understand some Buffets from that era did too.
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