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Re: Vintage A Clarinet

Author: John Peacock
Date: 2020-07-14 17:45

Your serial number shows the instrument is before the introduction of the polycylindrical R13 redesign in the mid-1950s. At this time, the Buffet "master bore" was more nearly cylindrical. An inevitable feature of such designs, as with the Selmer models of the day, is that the LH 12ths are narrow. In other words, if the clarion register is in tune, notes in the chalumeau tend to be sharp. The D and C# tend to be particularly problematic. Different barrels may change the problem a little, but I would very much doubt that it can be eliminated this way. You need a bore that tapers substantially so that it is 0.2-0.3 mm narrower at bottom and top, which is what you find in R13s from after the 1950s redesign. For the older instruments, you have to be prepared to deal with these sharp lower notes. As you noted, the problem is beyond what can easily be lipped, and you have to bring things down by shading the holes with fingers held close.

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