 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: ruben
Date: 2020-01-11 13:16
About 30 years ago, Buffet brought out its very unusual...and expensive..Elite model. It was very light and thin-walled. -very pleasant to play and had a lovely resonant sound that projected very well. But it soon disappeared. Why? I suspect there were intonation issues and bad ones. Yet this is something that can usually be put right. Not even its designer/tester, Michel Arrignon, was using it after a couple of years. He went back to Buffet Prestige. Have any of you played or do any of you play the Elite?
rubengreenbergparisfrance@gmail.com
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Author: Ed
Date: 2020-01-11 19:09
I never played one, so I don't have any firsthand experience. I know for some, one issue was that it was quite a departure from previous models. I did find it interesting that around the time Buffet introduced this thin walled clarinet, Selmer introduced the Recital, which was thicker walls.
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Author: GBK
Date: 2020-01-11 22:22
I remember trying out the Elite clarinet during a few of the Clarinetfests in the 1990's. I kept hoping my impression of it would change, but it never happened.
My visual impressions were mixed - the wood, being unstained was beautiful and of apparent good quality, however the gold plated key posts looked tacky. The Buffet rep said that the gold posts helped with the vibration/sound, but I never bought the explanation. The lack of tenon rings (polycarbonate fiber) was an interesting idea and probably contributed both to the overall sound and weight of the clarinet. If I remember correctly, I think that there were (plastic?) tone hole inserts (a la the E11).
The most appealing quality of the Elite was the overall weight of the instrument. It definitely felt lighter to hold and for playing in extended periods of time this would be a real advantage.
Now for the negatives - the body was thin walled and although the Buffet reps assured me that cracking should not be any more of an issue than with other Buffet clarinets, the thin walled body looked fragile.
The sound was small and compact. On each and every trial, with different mouthpiece/reed combinations the clarinet just didn't have the traditional R13 sound which I was used to. Being primarily an orchestral player, this concerned me. Instead, the sound of the Elite was light, sweet and compact. Thus, if chamber music is your venue, the Elite could be the answer.
The Elite also had metal resonators on the lower pads. I assume that Buffet also noticed that the sound was small and they needed to add something to boost the output.
BTW - Since the register vent and the placement of the tone holes is different than the traditional R13, they included both 63mm and 65mm barrels for either 442 or 440 tuning.
...GBK
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Author: ruben
Date: 2020-01-12 02:33
Ed: true! the Elite was a kind of anti-Recital. There has to be a relationship between thickness of walls and bore diameter. The Recital has the smallest bore of any modern clarinet. The Elite, I don't know.
rubengreenbergparisfrance@gmail.com
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Author: jonok
Date: 2020-01-12 07:09
I know that Deborah de Graaff has played an Elite for many years - and as far as I know, still does. To my ears, she makes it sound amazingly good .
https://deborahdegraaff.com/
Jon
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aspiring fanatic
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Author: ruben
Date: 2020-01-13 01:15
jonok: do you know whether het Buffet Elite was tweaked? Tweak a good instrument right and it becomes really good. I imagine its intonation issues-which were real-were not unsolvable.
rubengreenbergparisfrance@gmail.com
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Author: John Peacock
Date: 2020-01-13 03:17
Ruben: I'm not sure I agree that "There has to be a relationship between thickness of walls and bore diameter". Pre-war 1010s were much thinner-walled than the post-war models, and yet the bores were identical. Eaton Elites are heavier still than the postwar 1010s, although the bore is pretty similar. On Peter Eaton's website, you can find a description of how he tweaked the 1010 bore and then tried making thin-walled and thick-walled versions, deciding that the latter sounded better. This might say that just the sheer mass of wood affects the sound, although I guess thicker walls will tend to make the tone holes longer, which may also have an effect. Wasn't the reverse of this at work in the Elite, where some tone holes had chimneys to compensate for the thin walls?
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Author: jonok
Date: 2020-01-13 04:41
Sorry, Ruben, I don't know about any tweaks to get it setup.
I do know it did have quite a few cracks ... when fixed, it still sounded great - though I always credited that to the player, more than the instrument.
Jonathan.
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aspiring fanatic
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Author: Djudy
Date: 2020-01-13 05:14
Just for info, there is one for sale at Clarinets Direct, check out the gold posts with the silver keys !
https://www.clarinetsdirect.net/store/p121/Buffet-Elite-Clarinet.html#/
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Author: dorjepismo ★2017
Date: 2020-01-13 06:17
I played a set of these in the '80s and agree with what others have said. I had a hard time getting a big enough sound to cut through with solos in orchestra, and never got any "ping" out of them.
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Author: Micke Isotalo ★2017
Date: 2020-01-24 21:17
The OP suspected intonation issues with the Elites, but for me those clarinets have actually been the best tuning ones that I've tried ever. I tried out three B-flat specimens which I think were the first ones that came to Stockholm/Sweden (probably also the last ones  ), and all three were also very consistent concerning intonation. At the time I played on a Selmer C85 120 mouthpiece.
At the same time the Yamaha Reform Boehm clarinets had just came out, and since I preferred their tone/timbre they eventually became my choice. Intonation however was a lot better on the Elites.
Later I've changed to other Reform Boehm clarinets, but after a recent change in my embouchure I realized first hand how much different embouchures can change not only such as the tone but also the intonation (in my case like a teeter-totter with previously sharp upper clarion and third register notes going down and the lower register notes going up). Thus if I would try out the Elites today, I don't think they would tune at all as good for me as they did some 30 years ago.
Post Edited (2020-01-24 21:25)
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