 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: Rich Cassone
Date: 2001-03-13 14:49
I have a lovely old Buffet-Crampon from circa 1938.
It is in beautiful condition, no cracks in the wood, all the original keys.
I need to have the keys cleaned an polished, all the tampons replaced
and the cork replaced. That's literally it.
HOWEVER, I've brough it to 3 repair stores in Paris, all reputable and
2 of them won't even touch the clarinette. One said, "Forget it, those
old clarinets cost more to replace than to buy." The other guy said,
"I won't fix it for you, it's too much work!" THe third wanted $300 bucks.
I've had all this stuff done to other clarinettes before, and it's MAX
$200 of work, and probably more like $100.
What's up? Anybody ever have this problem before? Can I bring
the clarinette directly to buffett-crampon? Like I said, it's old and
needs a cleaning, but otherwise in probably better condition than
my NEW clarinet. YIKES.
HELP.
Rich
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Author: Anji
Date: 2001-03-13 16:00
Sounds like a job for J. Butler or Dave Spiegelthal.
Seems a little odd for them to turn away work.
Polishing the keys prolly adds to da bill, donchyaknow?
I'm with you, keep the beast breathing.
Any chance deez guize tried to sell you a horn while you were in the store?
anji
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Author: David Spiegelthal
Date: 2001-03-13 16:40
I think they all turned down the work because they didn't want to attempt that nasty tampon-replacing procedure.........
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Author: Bill Fogle
Date: 2001-03-13 17:41
It's NOT "max $200." Four-hundred is about right. Thats what I paid for my 1938 Buffet restoration. As far as Buffet-Paris not wanting to touch it, well, somebody has to sell those "Festivals" and production-quality R-13s.
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Author: Doug P
Date: 2001-03-13 19:07
Did you try the Woodwind and Brasswind in Paris? It's worth a shot.
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Author: ron b
Date: 2001-03-13 19:24
I don't get it, Rich. Old horns get fixed the same way 'new' ones do.
Did they specify what the *problem* is???
The price they quoted you seems out of line : to me, anyway. Maybe you need to go to a smaller city (?) ....
J Butler, (and others) as mentioned above, I believe will service your instrument by mail. J's prices are fair and his work outstanding. At least he has high marks from others at this BB. Contact him. I don't think he'll try to (high-pressure) sell you a new instrument :]
- ron b -
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Author: Aaron
Date: 2001-03-13 20:41
what are these tampons that you keep talking about...i have never heard of them before.
Aaron
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Author: C. Hogue
Date: 2001-03-13 21:20
Aaron --
Tampon is a French word that means plug. Rich, who apparently lives in or near Paris, is referring to pads on the clarinet when he uses the word. The long and short of it is that his clarinet needs an overhaul to get the pads and corks changed.
C. Hogue, translator of many things.
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Author: beejay
Date: 2001-03-13 22:04
Did you try Maciek at Arts et Musique (Vicent Genod) in the rue de Rome? He can fix anything. A complete overhaul costs between 1,000 and 1,500 francs, depending on the amount of work -- and you wouldn't even get a plastic student model for that.
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Author: beejay
Date: 2001-03-13 22:15
Did you try Maciek at Arts et Musique (Vicent Genod) in the rue de Rome? He can fix anything. A complete overhaul costs between 1,000 and 1,500 francs, depending on the amount of work -- and you wouldn't even get a plastic student model for that.
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Author: Willie
Date: 2001-03-14 00:15
Its probably the thought of polishing all those keys. I do mine by hand with Happich Simichrome polish and though they look great, its a lot of work.
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Author: Gordon (NZ)
Date: 2001-03-14 05:48
Buffing keys takes a long time, around all the nooks and crannies. Are there possible other problems like rusted pivots, chips in tone hole edges, flat springs with a binding action, sloppy pivots, looses fit of tenons, etc. These worts of things add a lot to the overhaul bill.
My experience is that the old ones take longer than the younger ones.
You did not mention what currency bucks. US$200 sounds reasonable to me, considering old instruments tend to have many contingency problems that are not immediately apparent.
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Author: Daniel Bouwmeester
Date: 2001-03-14 06:38
Rich,
Try going to the buffet factory in Mantes la Jolie outside Paris. (the factory is near to the station, not far from Selmer).
Phone them before, and tell them you want to speak to Carlos. Explain him your problem. Carlos will probably repair it if you tell him you play golf.. ha ha ha..
No... Carlos is a great passionate. He will probably accept.
Otherwise.. The only thing I suggest is that you send the horn to Geneva to a guy called René Hagmann. He has done wonders with clarinets, and he works sometimes with buffet engineers to make custom clarinets. He often restores very old instruments (such as 19th century clarinets).
If you need the adresses and/or phone numbers. email me.
Good luck
Daniel
(Geneva, Switzerland)
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Author: beejay
Date: 2001-03-14 12:32
Daniel,
Sorry to be pedantic, but Buffet and Selmer are at Mantes-la-Ville, not Mantes la Jolie.
***
Rich.
Vouz m'ettonez. I just collected my Buffet Crampon RC from them after an overhaul. They changed all pads and corks and the instrument looks and plays like new. It was expensive, but not nearly as much as you were quoted. I do remember that when we had my daughter's clarinet serviced some years ago, we found an excellent technician at La Courture-Boussay where Leblanc have a factory. The instruments museum out there (try Minitel) might be able to put you in touch with someone. If you do find someone good, don't forget to let us know.
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Author: Cass
Date: 2001-03-14 21:04
Maybe someone better explain that where you used the word "tampon", please use "pad" instead, because in English, tampon is sanitary equipment for women's menstruation periods. I hope it's not something forbidden to talk about on the list, sorry if it is, but if nobody explains it then there could be an embarrassing situation some day.
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Author: Blake
Date: 2001-03-14 21:13
Cass - thanks for the comment re "tampons" I had visions of maxi super absorbents......
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Author: Mark Charette
Date: 2001-03-14 22:12
remember, everyone, that this is an international forum and sometimes the translation to (American) English is difficult. The meanings of words that look like (American) English may not be what you imagine. If you look the word up in a dictionary you can in almost all cases figure out what the person is referring to.
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Author: ron b
Date: 2001-03-15 07:20
Right on, Mark -
It's not difficult, just think a little beyond the borders of our (north American?) mindset. Though the majority of contributor/writers to this BB 'seem' to be north American, I wouldn't be at all surprised if those are *not* the majority of readers.
ron b
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