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Lower joint with no serial number

Author: rgoldem
Date: 2020-02-20 21:22

I recently had the opportunity to play a beautiful Buffet RC Prestige that is for sale. Sound is gorgeous, intonation is quite acceptable and has very minor mechanical issues. It seems that with a little bit of tweaking it will be a great instrument. Serial is 413368 which makes me believe that it was produced in the late nineties.

However, I noticed that the serial number is stamped only on the upper joint and there are no marks at all in the lower joint. Can anyone help me to interpret this information? Is it a mismatch or a regular procedure for Buffet clarinets of this period? What are the risks of having an instrument with no standard markings?

Thanks in advance.

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Re: Lower joint with no serial number

Author: Chris P
Date: 2020-02-21 00:01

Maybe it had a lower joint transplant for whatever reason (damaged socket or similar) and the one supplied was new if it was still under guarantee, but wasn't stamped with the serial number.

I've seen transplants done where they were stamped with the serial number to match the one it replaced, but I think that's only done when a serial number has been supplied when the joint was ordered directly from Buffet themselves rather than if it was bought from another supplier of Buffet parts. I've even seen a top joint transplant done on an '80s R13 which was done at the B&H factory as it had a B&H style serial number stamped above the speaker tube as B&H did on their own clarinets.

Former oboe finisher
Howarth of London
1998 - 2010
The opinions I express are my own.

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Re: Lower joint with no serial number

Author: clarnibass
Date: 2020-02-21 09:58

In addition to the possibility Chris mentioned, I've seen some Buffet clarinets that were bought originally by selecting sections (joints) and not full clarinets (even not from the same model), usually at the Buffet factory itself. I don't remember what serial numbers these had, but it's possible one of the section didn't have a serial number...

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