 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: ruben
Date: 2026-01-09 00:46
My excellent friend Philippe Cuper has used exactly the same very modest Buffet RC for the last 45 years. He has always used a Vandoren B40 mouthpiece too, but has had several. I..and I'm not quite in Philippe Cuper's class... have used the same Selmer Recital for 40 years. In the interval, I have played many other models and brands, but always go back to my Recital, like a philanderer that always returns to his wife. Have you been playing the same instrument for long? What about the theory by which instruments "die" and lose their ping.
rubengreenbergparisfrance@gmail.com
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Author: Tom H
Date: 2026-01-09 09:39
I bought my current Buffet R13 in 1999. I only use it each summer for 7 rehearsals and 7 concerts (possibly a bit more). Otherwise I only practice on it once monthly, the other days on my student model Selmer. That's why I haven't yet spent a penny on repairs in 27 years (other than replacing 2 pads, which I probably had since the '70s). Like a car, it will last a long time if you keep the mileage down.
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Post Edited (2026-01-09 09:40)
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Author: gwie
Date: 2026-01-09 09:50
My first teacher played the same set of Buffet R13s from the early 70s for over forty years of their career, always keeping it maintained and in excellent condition.
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Author: JTJC
Date: 2026-01-09 15:17
I believe that in the UK, Mark van der Wiel, principal of the Philharmonia orchestra, has used his Buffet for 50 years. Basically, his whole professional life.
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Author: Hank Lehrer
Date: 2026-01-09 18:01
Hi All,
I am a prodigal son about one of my mouthpieces. It's a Portnoy BP02 that I got new in the early 1970s. It has never been refaced since I always have been concerned about doing anything that might change it in any way.
OK, I do flirt with a Borbeck 16, several really nice Selmer classics like a C*, C**, D, and an S, about every VD known to man, as well as several Stowell Wells Scheider B2s. But always go back to the Portnoy.
Pretty much the same with ligatures that range from a very old Bonade and my original Luyben. Spending a lot of money here does not really seem to make much sense.
I played a Selmer 9* for a very, very long time but have moved on to a great Yamaha CS Custom.
There are certainly others like me, a aged packrat, but someone that sticks with the "old faithful" stuff.
Hank
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Author: graham
Date: 2026-01-10 00:35
Some time later this year I will have owned one of my three pairs for forty years. Although that’s a matched pair, the serial numbers are a fair distance apart, and I would estimate that the B flat is around ten years older than the A. But these were very used when I got them, and my guess is that they are 120 and 110 years old. My other pairs are not matched, and came to me more recently, but these are also around 100 years old.
Whereas clarinets can wear out, these have not been used by me in the way that usually has that effect. They have not been used every day for hours a day for ten straight years. They may have been treated that way before I got them of course.
graham
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Author: gwlively
Date: 2026-01-10 01:57
This is off the subject of older clarinets, but since you mentioned using a Portnoy BP02 mouthpiece, what strength reed did you use? I "forced myself to use 3 1/2 to 4 on the same mouthpiece thinking that advanced players did the same. Later I emailed the company that made the piece and they told me the tip opening was 1.21, which is quite open. I should have been using much weaker strength reeds, instead of struggling mightily to make it work.
On the subject, I've been using a pre-R13 Buffet since 1966. I think it was new in either 1954 or 1951. I still like it, good tone and intonation. Many repairmen remarked at how good the wood is.
Post Edited (2026-01-10 02:08)
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