Author: Jack Kissinger
Date: 2012-03-14 06:24
I actually did look at that cup but, in describing the slight upward curve or angle I observed in its arm, I incorrectly referred to the top ring instead of the pad cup above that ring. When I look at Lorie's clarinet, I see an offset. It appears slightly less pronounced than the one on Steve's website but, to my eyes, it's there -- the difference probably a matter of camera angle. (I must admit that, in the first picture Lorie linked directly, there does not appear to be an offset. However, I think the offset is apparent in the three pictures Lorie uploaded to Flickr but didn't link here.)
In any case, Buffet-made clarinets of that period also appear to have had an offset. Pictures of the K1xx E&S which Vytas sold several years ago clearly show that his clarinet, presumably made by Buffet, had the same offset in the lower joint ring pad cup that we see in the picture on Steve Sklar's website (and I see in my A-series E&S and in Lorie's instrument).
I did a little research looking at pictures of some old Buffet clarinets on eBay and some pictures I have from Vytas. Here are some facts I observed:
1. A professional Buffet from 1924 has no adjusting screw on the G# throat key and only one post and rod for the E/B and F#/G# left-hand spatulas on the lower joint. It has a triangular trill key guide.
2. Vytas' early K-series E&S has no adjusting screw on the G# throat key and only one post and rod for the E/B and F#/G# left-hand spatulas on the lower joint. It has a triangular trill key guide.
3. A professional Buffet from 1936 has no adjusting screw on the G# throat key but two posts and rods for the E/B and F#/G# left-hand spatulas on the lower joint. It has a triangular trill key guide.
4. Lorie's clarinet has no adjusting screw on the G# throat key but two posts and rods for the E/B and F#/G# left-hand spatulas on the lower joint. It has a round trill key guide similar, if not identical to the trill key guide on my late 1950s Malerne. The picture on Steve Sklar's website and my A-Series E&S show the same features as Lorie's clarinet.
From this I conclude that Vytas' E&S is an earlier model (probably from the 1920s) than Lorie's (Steve's picture, or mine, all probably from the 1930s).
Other evidence:
1. Vytas observed that a picture of an E&S Master Model with a D prefix appeared identical to a Malerne clarinet he had overhauled. He sent me a picture of the E&S and I compared it with a Malerne I'd owned for over 50 years. I had to agree.
2. Incomplete observations: It appears that Malerne's characteristic trill key guide is a cylinder with a rounded top. Buffet's characteristic trill key guide was a triangle. While photos of Buffet clarinets over a long period of time are prevalent, pictures of clarinets labeled Malerne dating back to the company's early years are difficult to find.
Conclusions:
Vytas believes that Buffet started the K-series E&S in the 1930s and continued it unbroken up to modern times. He believes that the only E&S clarinets made by Buffet are those with a K-prefix. Other E&S clarinets were stenciled by Malerne with or without Buffet's knowledge. If this is true, there are times when both Buffet and Malerne were making E&S clarinets simultaneously. A problem for this theory then is the apparent disappearance of K-series E&S clarinets from around the time Vytas' clarinet was made until the 1950s when the K-series re-emerges. (A K-series clarinet iwth no adjusting screw and two posts would be very useful to find, if it exists.)
Just for kicks, here is an alternative theory: Buffet started the E&S model in the 1920s, adopting a K prefix for the serial number. In the 1930s, they changed the design and, at the same time dropped the K prefix, later adding an A prefix. In the 1940s, after another design change, they adopted a B prefix. Problems with this theory are: the strange D-series anomaly that clearly looks more like a Malerne than a Buffet, the fact that non-K series Buffets have the round trill guide and some other Malerne-like design issues.
The truth is probably completely different and we'll probably never know it. In the meantime, to my eyes, whether they were made by Malerne or Buffet, Lorie's clarinet is essentially identical to the one pictured on Steve Sklar's website and my A-series E&S -- and, unfortunately, probably not a great horn by modern standards.
Best regards,
jnk
|
|
The Clarinet BBoard
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
