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The Road to Mantes La Ville-Buffet Factory

Author: anneh
Date: 2008-06-10 03:39

Dear Clarinet BBoard--
I realized, with great embarrassment, that I never updated the forum about my trip to the Buffet factory to buy a clarinet last year!

In December of 2006 I contacted Buffet through their website about my plan to visit in February of 2007. They gave me a list of retail stores in Paris to contact.

Through a series of emails with the store Musique et Art acting as the go between I set up an appointment. The way the process works is that the instrument is purchased through a retail store but you can visit the factory to choose your instrument.

My friend Gail and I took the train from Paris (I think it was the St. Lazare station) to Mantes La Ville, about a 45 minute trip. We received instructions on how to do this from an employee at Musique et Art. By the way, I do not speak French in the slightest and was easily able to buy the ticket and make the trip.

Upon arrival, we left the train station and began to look for the factory--we had been told that Buffet was right next to the station. We stopped for a quick "petit dejeuner" at a bistrot right next to the station and began our search. We walked around the block, scratching our heads--there didn't seem to be any numbers on the buildings. For a moment we paused and reviewed the information. My friend then looked at the wall next to us where there was a GIANT (12 feet at least) picture of a clarinet and the Buffet logo! As Homer would say, "D'OH".

We went around the corner into the factory and checked in at the reception desk. I was SO pleased to see my name on the computer screen next to her desk--in a large font, "WELCOME MADAME HENDRICKSON".

We were led in to a room where there were about 20 clarinets--I had decided in advance that I wanted an RC Prestige. For some reason there were no Toscas available, which I did want to try, but it didn't bother me--I was glad to not be further confused!

They gave me Evian water to soak my reeds in and left us alone to try the instruments out. We had brought a tuner, so I played while my friend evaluated the pitch, unseen by me.

We wrote down notes on each instrument, and narrowed the field. I would say the whole process took about 2 hours. Finally I chose a winner--honestly, I could have chosen the final instrument on the first pass--it had a "ping" to the tone that both my friend and I noticed each time I played it. However, I wanted to be sure, so we did a diligent examination of each one, trying with different reeds and two different mouthpieces (a Fobes San Francisco and a Vandoren 5RVLyre). There were no "dogs" in the group, but we noticed a definite difference from instrument to instrument.

After I made my selection, we met with a technician, who gave me a choice of cases--a pouchette or a larger square one with combination locks. I chose the combo lock one, but would later regret my choice! Not long after getting home, one of the latches became stuck (I never set the combo) and I had to pry it open. I have since bought a smaller Protec case.

The technician gave me some tips on care (no need to oil the bore, make sure to give it a long break in period and swab thoroughly each time) and told me to be sure to always line up the Buffet logos on the clarinet--they spend time at the factory finding the sweet spot on the barrels and bells and mark the logo accordingly.

He also gave me a supply of the small plastic pins (I think he called them "pitons") for the long left hand keys on the bottom joint--there is a thread somewhere on the board about problems with these items breaking or wearing out, so I made sure to stock up while I was there. He was very friendly and nice--I think he could tell how excited we were to be in the "mother ship". A completely pleasant experience!

They let me leave with the clarinet (oh joy!). We then took the train back to Paris and then went to Musique et Art to complete the sale, get my VAT papers etc. Adoption complete!

Later on in the trip I went to the Vandoren store in Paris and stocked up on reeds and bought a new mouthpiece, a B40, to complete my orgy of buying all things clarinet.

Regarding the cost: I made up my mind in advance that I would not worry about the price--in the end the clarinet cost a bit over $3800 US. To me this was a once in a lifetime adventure--I wasn't looking to save money on this purchase, I wanted the experience of choosing my instrument in France and knew I would be paying dearly for it. Besides, being a music teacher and musician I am able to claim this purchase on my income taxes AND get frequent flyer miles on my credit card, so there is a bright spot financially.

I had no problem taking the clarinet back into the US--for reasons which would bore you I had to take a wheelchair through customs--because I had then three carry ons (couldn't fit the giant combo lock case in my carry on) I sat on the clarinet in the wheelchair and was whisked right through security.

I have had many, many wonderful performances on my wonderful new clarinet since February 07. No cracks, still has that beautiful pinging sound, all of my friends are so jealous!

Now my friend Gail wants to go choose a clarinet, so we will be making a second trek to Mantes la Ville this July! I will, though, talk her into getting the pouchette case instead of the combo lock one!

Sorry it took me so long to update! If anyone has any questions about the process of visiting the Buffet factory, let me know!

Anne

Anne

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