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My other project - Buffet E11 refurb (PICS!)

Author: escher
Date: 2013-11-13 16:17

As I said in my other post - I also am working on another project clarinet.

I found this E11 on Ebay the other day and jumped as the price seemed pretty good for a functional horn. ($300)
http://www.ebay.com/itm/111183437979?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1439.l2649

It played OK out of the box, but was obviously not loved by its previous owner - some dings and rubs. A couple bent / binding keys.

So I decided to tear her down and have a look.

Note - I'm in the process of taking some pics, so bear with me... they will come later..

First to note - if you look at the Ebay ad - the finish makes it look plastic. Its a wood horn, and I now understand why it looks that way.

Buffet paints their E11's... Its not a dye or a stain, but a paint / varnish of some sort. I had always read that they dyed them to get the wood to look consistent, but I didnt think they were painted!

Another hobby of mine is working / refinishing on Les Paul style guitars in my free time, so I'm very familiar with wood refinishing - particularly oiled finishes... so I decided to give it a go on this E11.

I spent about 5 hours with #0000 steel wool removing all the paint from the horn. I then soaked it in Sweet Almond oil.

While it was soaking I addressed the binding keys.. The top two keys in the cluster of four on the lower joint were binding a little... and the screw was nearly impossible to remove.

Well, and I dont know how this happened... maybe one of the guru's here can tell me - but the screw appeared to be stepped in the middle. as if two smaller screws were welded together... there was an obvious step in the very middle, which would not allow the screw to rotate.

Now, this was definitely NOT a bend... it was a defined step... maybe a hard drop caused it, but I don't see how...

Regardless, I chucked the screw in my drill press and sanded the step out for the most part and then polished the screw back up. No more issues.

I hand cleaned / polished all the keys and reassembled. It now plays very nicely! Although I will be doing a full repad soon because some of the bladder pads are torn... I just don't have the cash at the moment.

The finish is beautiful now... like I said - I'll post some pics soon.. But I don't understand why Buffet doesn't just buff the bodies down with something like steel wool or a synthetic steel wool and then oil them. It looks SO much better than that paint / varnish.

The only thing that's not great is all the logos are now gone... but I'm considering looking into having them laser-etched on or something... not sure.. Last time I checked it wasn't that expensive to have done.

The last thing I should mention - if anyone wants to do something similar... is that your posts and tenon rings will get buffed by the steel wool.. I didnt mind as I like that look.. but its not the kind of thing you will want to do IF you want super shiny posts and rings. The steel wool doesnt take the plating off, but you may when / if you try and repolish them - ask me how I know...

I'm sure this type of refurb isnt for everyone... but it suits my purpose and I think it improves the look quite a bit... again - sorry for no pics yet, I hope to remedy that this evening.

Post Edited (2013-11-14 01:38)

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