 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: Koo Young Chung
Date: 2006-05-10 11:44
Is R13 Prestige really better than regular R13 ?
Or is it Buffet's marketing strategy rather than genuine effort
to make better clarinets?
As many as response please
Koo-Young
Post Edited (2006-05-10 11:56)
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Author: Ralph G
Date: 2006-05-10 13:18
Only you can decide. The main thing is which plays better for you.
The Prestige has a few extra features -- supposedly better wood ("heartwood" cut from the center of the tree ring), an extra Ab/Eb lever, tenon caps, and a nifty little badge on the upper joint. It's also quite heavy. You'll have to decide if they're worth the extra money.
I played a loaner Prestige for about a year in a little VFW-affiliated band, a hand-me-down they got from the military. I liked it enough to try to buy it, but buying government-issue stuff isn't easy. Then I found my regular R-13 (a used 5-year-old at the time) and fell in love.
________________
Artistic talent is a gift from God and whoever discovers it in himself has a certain obligation: to know that he cannot waste this talent, but must develop it.
- Pope John Paul II
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Author: Brenda Siewert
Date: 2006-05-10 15:12
The Prestige is a nice clarinet--extra key, better wood, etc. I owned one in 1997 that was hand selected from the factory by my clairnet teacher, Dr. Raphael Sanders, and a panel of clairnetists who were in Paris for a clarinet symposium. I sold it in 2000 in favor of a Leblanc Opus because the tone of the Opus was more to my liking.
I always found my Prestige a bit on the stuffy side and not as easy blowing as my old R-13. My pinky finger was too short to reach the extra key on the Prestige, but I could manage the Opus, so the Prestige's extra eb/ab key was worthless to me and not a factor in deciding whether to keep or sell it.
I've also owned many R-13s throughout my playing experience and some are good, some are bad and others have been magnificent.
Play both and decide for yourself.
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Author: Chris P
Date: 2006-05-10 15:36
Also, the Prestige clarinets are usually left unstained so you can see the quality of the grenadilla used for each joint, the standard R13 and others are stained with a dark purple dye to make the wood appear more uniform throughout the instrument, though it's impossible to get two billets that are the same in colour, grain and density - wood being wood.
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Author: Koo Young Chung
Date: 2006-05-22 05:55
Can anyone explain why Prestige sounds different from regular R13?
Aren't their bore design supposed to be same?
Prestige has/is
1.better wood,i.e., darker wood
2.L.H. Eb key
3.unstained
4.higher price tag
5.heavier silver plating
But, imho,I don't think any of these make a noticeable differnce in tone.
(Maybe No.5 theoretically?)
Please help me.
Confused.
Post Edited (2006-05-22 06:08)
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Author: clarnibass
Date: 2006-05-22 06:29
Before playing an Eaton clarinet (which is the one I still play) I've owned a R13 and then a R13 Prestige. After playing a R13 for years, I visited the USA and decided to try more clarinets (I only had two to choose from the R13, and I wasn't really good when I chose it so my teacher did most of it). I've tried six clarinets, three R13s, and three R13 Presitges.
I personally felt a difference in sound between the regular R13s and the Prestiges, and it was bigger than the difference between individual clarinets, but I can't say it was better or worse, just different. I chose a Prestige, which later my teacher tried and said it is a really excellent clarinet, but I wouldn't be surprised if many others would prefer the sound of the regular R13s.
I have synestasia (how do you spell it?) so sound difference sometimes jump to me by association with something else, and in that case it did (you can read the thread about synestasia on this forum).
Edit: Why does it say I'm from Tel Aviv-Yafo next to my username? I'm not from there.
Post Edited (2006-05-22 06:32)
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Author: tictactux ★2017
Date: 2006-05-22 07:59
Why does it say I'm from Tel Aviv-Yafo next to my username? I'm not from there
It doesn't. It just says that your provider (ISP) appears to be based in Tel Aviv. The BBoard software tries to reverse-lookup (find a name) the dotted-decimal IP Address you currently had when you posted. Said name is pulled off a database and might be subject to modifications, ie not always 100% accurate. (eg WHOIS lookup brought up Golden Lines international Communication Ltd., Petach-Tikva as the owner). In other words, it just says where the provider - via whom a post was submitted - is from. Doesn't say a lot about you.
(Sorry for the technical off-topicness)
--
Ben
Post Edited (2006-05-22 15:32)
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Author: crnichols
Date: 2006-05-22 09:07
There is one difference that I'm surprised no one has brought up. The register tube placement is different on a Prestige R13 than a regular R13. It's a little closer to the tenon than the regular R13. I had my A clarinet modified by Guy Chadash in this manner, and I found the difference remarkable.
Christopher Nichols
1st Infantry Division Band
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Author: Mark Charette
Date: 2006-05-22 10:49
tictactux wrote:
> Why does it say I'm from Tel Aviv-Yafo next to my username?
> I'm not from there
>
> It doesn't. It just says that your provider (ISP) appears to be
> based in Tel Aviv.
100% correct. There's software that can sometimes do a better job, but it's expensive.
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Author: clarnibass
Date: 2006-05-22 11:38
Christopher Nichols - I just looked and on my R13 and R13 Prestige the register placement is the same. The only differnce I noticed is on the Prestige it is more into the bore.
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Author: bcl1dso
Date: 2006-05-22 23:48
While we are on the subject, what is the difference between the prestige and the prestige RC
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Author: sfalexi
Date: 2006-05-23 02:04
The RC is a slightly different design than the R13. I've read it's Europe's choice of instrument (many european players apparently will purchase an RC instead of an R13 - just from what I read in past posts here.) The differences include slightly different designs implemented by Robert Carrere.
However the word "prestige" in front a buffet clarinet pretty much means "heartwood" of the tree and an alternate Eb lever.
A search on google or here on the RC will get you information the differences between the RC and the R13.
Alexi
US Army Japan Band
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Author: crnichols
Date: 2006-05-23 21:36
Clarnibass,
Excuse me, the modification that was made to my A clarinet, was similar to the Buffet Vintage R-13 that is being discussed in another thread currently.
Christopher Nichols, D.M.A.
Assistant Professor of Clarinet
University of Delaware
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Author: kssams
Date: 2006-05-24 15:55
Okay, while we are at it, what exactly is an R-13 "Professional" Prestige?
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Author: Chris P
Date: 2006-05-24 16:57
Never heard of that - only R13 and R13 Prestige, they're both pro clarinets.
The Prestige clarinets also have Gore-Tex pads - I dissected one the other day (as I've just overhauled a Festival) and I wanted to see how they're made.
There's the outer layer which (as has been mentioned) is pretty much like PTFE tape used in plumbing but thicker, then a layer of skin and the standard felt disc and card backing. That's the Buffet pads.
I then dissected a Pisoni Gore-Tex pad (I've got some of these as replacements) only to find it's a single layer - there's no layer of skin between the Gore-Tex outer coveing and the felt disc as on Buffet's pads.
But the Gore-Tex pads do stain as badly as skin pads, and aren't easy to clean.
Incidentally, I repadded the Festival Bb with both cork for all the low lying pads (6 in total - speaker key, side F# key, both side and cross Eb/Bb keys, C#/G# key and RH cross B/F# 'sliver' key) and brown leather pads for everything else.
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Author: kssams
Date: 2006-05-24 17:39
Well, I got that from www.musiciansfriend.com. Maybe that was more their description than the actual name of the clarinet. Thanks anyway!
And I'm not in Bluff City, but rather Johnson City, neither of which anyone has ever heard of.
Post Edited (2006-05-24 17:43)
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