The Clarinet BBoard

Buffet Logo Evolution

Author: Ken Shaw ★2017 Date:   2009-05-28 19:49 This expands my answer to Graham about the Buffet logo. The size and shape of the Buffet logo changed over the years. For many years, an individual workman filed all the keys by hand from blank stock and fitted them to each individual instrument, so there was noticeable variation. See http://test.woodwind.org/clarinet/BBoard/read.html?f=1&i=230420&t=230397 and http://test.woodwind.org/clarinet/BBoard/read.html?f=1&i=237809&t=237751. I suspect, but do not know, that the workmen also made their own logo stamps. At any rate, at some point, perhaps in the 1930s, the logo got about 10% larger and the lyre above the oval and stylized script "BC" below the oval also changed. On my 1892 Albert system Bb, the lyre had a rounded horseshoe shape with a horizontal figure 8 base, three distinctly stamped strings between the arms, tuning pegs and a lightly stamped horizontal nut near the top of the arms, and a scroll at the top of each arm. The BC has serifs at the left of the B and the right of the C that are curved about 3/4 of the way around, and the C is smaller and higher than the B. By 1908, the lyre has lost its strings and the nut (or maybe the lyre was stamped very lightly), but kept the tuning pegs, and the base is a small trapezoid. The top and bottom serifs on the C have become closed circles. On my 1929 C clarinet and two 1929 Bbs, the lyre has its tuning pegs back. The bottom of the horseshoe is thicker and has a teardrop-shaped string attachment point at the bottom and two strings (or perhaps a fingerboard) leading up to a scroll at the top, above and between the ends of the arms. The BC has become stretched vertically, and the C is lower, though still lightly raised. On my 1939 Bb, the oval has gotten its current, larger size, the string attachment point on the lyre is a rectangle and the lyre is wider and fatter, closer to a Greek omega than a horseshoe. There are three distinct strings, no scroll at the top, and the nut and tuning pegs are nearly gone. The BC is larger and more open. By the mid-1970s, when my R-13s were made, the logo had become standardized at the current shape. The rectangular string attachment point for the lyre goes up higher, there are 3 strings and a nut but no tuning pegs, and the base of the lyre is a trapezoid with the shoulders slightly rounded. The BC has the letters overlapping more than the earlier design and the C is lower, even with the B. There are subtle differences among the logos on my three 1929 instruments, which leads me to believe that each finisher had his own stamps. The lyre, oval and BC are clearly three separate stamps, so the positioning varies, and they vary in how deep they are impressed, so the presence or absence of, e.g., the lyre strings undoubtedly varies depending on the amount of wear on the stamp and how hard it was hit. More than any one needs to know. Ken Shaw Post Edited (2009-05-28 19:50)

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