 The Clarinet BBoard
|
Author: The Kidd
Date: 2010-08-29 15:16
I have a wood Buffet Crampon clarinet that unfortunately met its demise under a truck tire. For insurance purposes, I'm trying to find out the model of the clarinet. Its serial number is 84062, which I'm guessing puts it at about 1965 for when it was made. It has a Buffet stamp with Made in France under it, but no model identification under the stamp. My understanding is that only top of the line Buffets made before 1980 had the Buffet stamp. Any idea as to the model?? My parents had bought it used for me years ago, so didn't have any original paperwork.
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Ed Palanker
Date: 2010-08-29 15:28
My older Buffet that I bought in 1965 is in the 90 thousand series so yours is older than that. I'd guess the middle to late 50s. Not worth a whole lot on the opened market. If you have an insurance policy that pays the replacement value you could get at least 3K for it but if you get the actual value you will have a difficult time finding out what it would have actually been worth. In that case I'd go for a thousand dollars and consider yourself lucky if you can get it. They may require a written statement form a respected tech or retailer giving you an appraised value. Good luck, ESP http://eddiesclarinet.com
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: William
Date: 2010-08-29 15:42
"Back then", my vintage R13's cost around $225 (Bb) & $350 (A) which my parents bought for me in college. However, I was a bit more careful than you and still play the Bb in a local symphony orchestra. It did survive a repair shoppe fire in the 1970's while under Chuck Hedges work bence in Milwaukee. And a night in Genna's Lounge where it was "inadvertantly" left for an evening......Frank saved it for me.
Insurance may say that it was only worth its original sales price what your parents may have paid--$250. However, a pro level Buffet on todays used market would be worth at least $1200. Good luck.
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: The Kidd
Date: 2010-08-29 15:48
Our policy states repair or replace, and I don't think repair is an option. The bell is completely destroyed, the lower component has a big chunk of wood out of it with a crack up the barrel and the lower keys aren't functioning, and the upper component has a completely bent A key.
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: The Kidd
Date: 2010-08-29 15:51
Let's just say my daughter, who started on it a year and a half ago, has learned a valuable, expensive lesson.
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Caroline Smale
Date: 2010-08-29 15:52
My R13 ser 76xxx dates from 1963 but I bought it used in mid 1980's and cost me then about $350 I think.
I guess yours is about 1964 or so.
They appear not infrequently on "that site" so shouldn't be too hard to get an approximate value for it.
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Chris P
Date: 2010-08-29 16:46
You ought to insure it for the equivalent of an R13 as that is probably what it is.
Former oboe finisher
Howarth of London
1998 - 2010
The opinions I express are my own.
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Jack Kissinger
Date: 2010-08-29 17:56
The clarinet is a Buffet R13, made between 1964 and 1966 according to the serial number list on this website. To buy a used R13 in good playing condition of that vintage would probably cost $800 - $1,600, depending on where you buy it (eBay will be cheaper than a local owner will be cheaper than a music store) and how lucky you get. The original cost should be irrelevant because you have replacement cost insurance. Whether your insurance company will buy you a brand new R13, however, depends on your policy and how it defines replacement cost. (In some cases, "replacement" means replacement with a new item. In others, it means replacement with an item of similar condition and perhaps age. In other cases, the starting point is the cost of a new item, which is then adjusted for depreciation.)
In any case, you can report the loss as a Buffet R13 clarinet and go from there.
Best regards,
jnk
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: The Kidd
Date: 2010-08-30 21:05
Thank you all for your help. I will now be searching for a good, used R13, which our insurance will pay for (minus the deductible).
Cathy
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Jack Kissinger
Date: 2010-08-30 22:26
If you are close to a university with a music department, try contacting the clarinet professor. They often know of instruments for sale.
Woodwind and Brasswind shows several used R13s for sale on their website. I didn't see any listed at Weiner Music but they usually have some as well if you want to contact them.
Best regards,
jnk
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: The Kidd
Date: 2010-08-30 22:54
Excellent idea - University of Wisconsin - Madison has an excellent music department. Thanks!
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: William
Date: 2010-08-31 15:31
BTW--the "destroyed" bell can be replaced, non-functioning (bent or broken) keys repaired and minor cracks sealed. A whole lower joint can also be replaced if the "big chunk" of "missing wood" cannot be patched up. Before "throwing the baby out with the bath water", perhaps a trip down "the road" to Ward Brodt Music Mall's repair shoppe would be advised. My favorite techperson, Mary Jones, specializes in clarinet repair and if all is really "lost", that would be an excellant store for an assessment of value and possible replacement.
Ward Brodt Music Mall
Madison, WI (right next to American TV on the 12/18 beltline)
Mary Jones, woodwind repairperson extrordinair
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Bob Bernardo
Date: 2010-09-02 02:23
Can I ask how the clarinet got under a tire? This has to be an interesting story!
Designer of - Vintage 1940 Cicero Mouthpieces and the La Vecchia mouthpieces
Yamaha Artist 2015
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: The Kidd
Date: 2010-09-02 21:47
It was the county fair! My daughter was to march in the parade in town, and take her horse in for the speed show. She set her (my) clarinet by the truck when she went to load her horse up into the trailer, then forgot to pick it up before we left. I felt a "bump, bump", but thought it was one of the bigger stones in our driveway... then, as we were about a mile down the road, horse in tow, she says to me..."Did you get my clarinet?" My response, of course, was "No, that's not my responsibility!" "Well, we have to go back and get it!" Turning a truck with a 4-horse trailer around was the next frustration, but we were finally headed home (and I thought the clarinet was still in the house). As we went up the driveway, there it was, completely crunched, the case in splinters. My daughter learned a very valuable, expensive lesson. I'm still trying to figure out the common sense, or lack thereof, with putting a clarinet, or anything else for that matter, on the ground in front of a truck...
So that's the story - I will hopefully see the humor in it some day...!
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Bob Bernardo
Date: 2010-09-02 22:12
Thanks for telling us the story! Well thats a really good one for sure!
Sorry about your misfortune.
Designer of - Vintage 1940 Cicero Mouthpieces and the La Vecchia mouthpieces
Yamaha Artist 2015
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: William
Date: 2010-09-03 16:10
Mary Jones and I talked just yesterday and I understand you are "looking around" for a replacement clarinet--Buffet Greenline was mentioned. If your daughter is serious about continuing, a professional level clarinet would always be a good choice--I would suggest a R13 model. However, if she is still considering marching, you should also buy a cheap, durable, student model plastic clarinet that she can put in "harms way" without risking her more fragile, expensive and much better playing instrument. For this use, my first choice is always Selmers Bundy Resonite (plastic) clarinet. These instruments play adequately for outside use, especially with marching bands and are vertually indestructable. And with a descent mouthpiece, they can sound quite well. Bottom line is CHEAP and DISPOSABLE if inadvertantly run over by something like a tank.
My recommendations: Buffet R13 (wood) for a lifetime of use; Selmer Bundy Resonite for short-term marching band experiance.
Buffet "Greenline" clarinets are great instruments, however there have been postings regarding their fragility and tendency to break if dropped or bumped severly. Wood is more durable in this respect. On the "other hand", Greenline is less subject to adverse weather conditions and cracking. However, I own many wood pro-line wood instruments, live in Madison where (as you well know) the weather can be cruel, and none of my clarinets have ever cracked. These are the pros & cons you should consider--both the Buffet R13 & Greenling will cost and play about the same. If you have a questions, you may email me directly :>)
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Jack Kissinger
Date: 2010-09-03 23:24
In replacing the destroyed clarinet, you will of course have to stay within the parameters specified by your insurance company.
I think your daughter's story is a good illustration of why most children in the early stages of learning a musical instrument are not ready for an expensive professional-level model. Rather than getting her another R13 for school and lessons (and possible destruction) and buying an old Bundy beater for marching band, I would recommend you buy her a good (and, BTW, new or new-looking) student model instrument to play for the time being. Then, if she demonstrates that she is interested enough to continue in the long run and is responsible enough to take good care of a $2,000+ instrument, get her a professional model (or give her one that you have held back, if you have to buy another R13 to take advantage of the insurance settlement). At that point, she can relegate the student model instrument to marching band and other bad-weather use.
With only a year-and-a-half behind her, I think it's a little early to determine if your daughter is going to pursue the clarinet seriously beyond high school (or middle school, for that matter -- kid's interests change rapidly at this stage of their lives). So getting her an expensive clarinet at this time does not strike me as a good idea. If she does become serious about the clarinet, there will be plenty of time in the future to obtain an appropriate instrument for her -- and the longer you wait, the more likely it will fit her long-term needs and the better condition it will be in when she really needs it.
Best regards,
jnk
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: The Kidd
Date: 2010-09-06 14:49
Thank you both for your words of wisdom. I will be buying a used R13, as our insurance states replace in "like kind and quality". However, our band director/school has a plastic clarinet for people to use when their clarinet is out for repair, etc., and I would bet she would let my daughter use it for marching at football games, etc. As my daughter's clarinet was my clarinet previously, I agree that I used it for marching in parades and cold football halftime shows, and never had an issue with my R13. In fact, I was completely ignorant to the fact that it could crack with those changes in temperature.
It's true that my daughter's interests may change as she gets older, but I also know that she loves playing it, in fact I don't even have to ask her to practice, unlike the piano... Also, her best friends are in band, too, so I think that will keep her in band as well. Anyway, I feel comfortable buying the instrument, and feel she will take excellent care of it from now on.....
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
The Clarinet Pages
|
 |
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
