 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: lisa4kids
Date: 2009-06-18 23:07
My dad had what he called a "professional model" Buffet clarinet that he bought in the 70's and then sold to a student. He couldn't remember the model type...but we have tracked the clarinet down, and he's going to buy it back from her! It was played very little and closet stored, so it's got life left in it! My daughter is excited to get to play this clarinet after we have it overhauled. Anyway...a family acquaintance looked up the serial number and at first thought it to be an R13 from 1971, but then thought it may be an S1. I don't have it in my posession, so I can't look at it right now, but the person who has it currently says that it only says "Buffet Crampon" on it, and is not marked with an S1 or anything. The serial number is 120707. I guess we'll know more when we get it, but in the meantime, she's wanting to know what it is she's getting!!! I was trying to find something that listed the S1 serial numbers from back then, but I can't seem to locate it.
This is what the Buffet website tells me when I enter the number:
Brand : Buffet Crampon
Instrument : N? 1 Sib Am鲩que
Serial number : 120707
Year of manufacturing : 04/08/1971
I'm thinking our friend is correct and it is an S1?
Lisa...mom of a senior flute/piccolo girl, and a sophomore clarinetist!
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Author: JJAlbrecht
Date: 2009-06-19 00:50
No. It's an R13, most likely. The Sib designation is the French way of saying it's in the key of Bb. I had an R13 from that time, and its serial was 1222xx which dates it a little newer than the one you are discussing.
Jeff
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Author: lisa4kids
Date: 2009-06-19 01:29
Thanks for your reply....I was just wondering, because I entered in a random similar number and it classified that particular instrument as an R13, and then I did another random nearby number and it came up as an S1. I wonder why this one isn't clear in it's description? I thought I heard somewhere though, that the S1's had an S1 in a diamond on them, and this does not.
Lisa...mom of a senior flute/piccolo girl, and a sophomore clarinetist!
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Author: Jack Kissinger
Date: 2009-06-19 04:11
The designation is perfectly clear (or would have been) to someone working in the factory at the time the instrument was made. The Buffet serial number list reports data taken from the factory records. Over the years, Buffet has actually changed the "coding" for its instruments a number of times. The early designation that Buffet used to refer internally to a polycylindrical Bb R13 (made for the American market) was No.1 (Amerique in Sib) (according to Francois Kloc). Later it would become an R13 in Sib and, later still, an 1131. (There may also have been other designations along the way -- I don't remember.)
You are correct that the S1 was clearly marked as such. Based on the limited information I have been able to find, I don't think the S1 was introduced until sometime after your clarinet was made -- the dates I've seen were 1973 or 74 (but I could be wrong about this).
Best regards,
jnk
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Author: pewd
Date: 2009-06-19 04:58
I owned a S1 at one time.
The S1 logo in the diamond is quite clear and impossible to miss, a heavy deep stamp on the one I had (on the top joint in the usual place where we find the Buffet logo). I believe Jack is correct on the dates, but my memory is fuzzy...
- Paul Dods
Dallas, Texas
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Author: lisa4kids
Date: 2009-06-19 05:04
the woman who has it right now (should have it here in the next couple of weeks, yay) said there's nothing except the Buffet logo and the serial number on it. I did take a look at some Buffet info, and I also read that the S1 wasn't introduced until after the production date on this one, so I suspect maybe it's an R13 after all? I'll be able to inspect it better once it's here.
Lisa...mom of a senior flute/piccolo girl, and a sophomore clarinetist!
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Author: Jeroen
Date: 2009-06-19 07:50
According to the Buffet info and the fact there is no logo on the instrument it is an R13 most likely.
I don't think the "N? 1" in this context stands for the polycilindrical bore design.
I think it indicates the instrument has the standard Boehm system No1 (17/6).
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Author: JJAlbrecht
Date: 2009-06-19 20:18
I think Buffet continued to use that notation long after the R13 became their main pro horn. The clarinet in question dates to 1971, so pre-R13 clarinets should have been out of the pipeline for a looooooonnnnng time.
Jeff
“Everyone discovers their own way of destroying themselves, and some people choose the clarinet.” Kalman Opperman, 1919-2010
"A drummer is a musician's best friend."
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