 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: Jim S.
Date: 2002-03-05 17:45
I got a nicked-up Buffet mouthpiece with my set of Buffets about 20 years ago and it sat in a drawer until a few weeks ago when I saw someone here say they used a Buffet mouthpiece. I got a series of graduated wet/dry sandpapers and went to work on it on a glass plate as an experiment, feeling I could spare the thing if I ruined it. When I got the lay smoothed out and started looking inside I also noticed that the bore was nicely turned rather than cast as my Borbecks and Hite and Bay seemed to be. I began to look at the thing with more respect. Then I played it. Wow! Power. Resonance. Good intonation! This is now my best mouthpiece by far. Has anyone else had a similar experience?
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Author: Ken Shaw
Date: 2002-03-05 17:50
Jim -
I've never played a Buffet mouthpiece that was any good as it came from the factory. However, according to Kalmen Opperman, the older ones were made from good material supplied by Lalandais, which bought out Chedeville. He turned one into an excellent player for me, but said it took a lot of work, and you have to assess them one at a time.
Best regards.
Ken Shaw
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Author: David Spiegelthal
Date: 2002-03-05 18:19
It's possible, simply by random variation and the laws of probability, e.g. the theory that, if enough monkeys were to sit down at typewriters for a long enough period of time, eventually Shakespeare's works would be written.
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Author: Jim S.
Date: 2002-03-05 19:03
Do you think that the indications that the bore had been turned rather than cast suggests that someone had done some work on this mouthpiece and then thrown it in with my set of clarinets because the lay had been accidentally nicked? He probably knew I would have my own very good mouthpieces. (The person I got it from was a very fine repairman who worked on major symphony musicians' instruments and might have had the capability to rework mouthpieces.) Or could Buffet mouthpieces have have had carefully turned bores staight from the factory back in the early 80's?
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Author: Brenda Siewert
Date: 2002-03-05 19:17
David, do you believe that a rose would smell as sweet if given another name? Or, what about Mrs. MacBeth's spot?
I've also heard there were some very, very nice Chedeville Buffet mouthpieces out there. I have a friend I've been trying to trade a Vandoren 5RV for hers--she knows better.
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Author: GBK
Date: 2002-03-05 20:40
I've sold a few of these 1970-1980 Buffet/Chedeville mouthpieces (1 line up - 3 lines down) both privately and on eBay to both collectors and serious players.
These were the stock mouthpieces (C, C crown, etc...) that were included in Buffet's purchased during that time.
They have always brought fairly high $$ prices, so someone must feel they have an intrinsic value, if perhaps only for the blank that was used...GBK
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Author: jez
Date: 2002-03-06 10:49
I have a Buffet sop. sax. mouthpiece that is outstandingly my favourite. I was able to choose it at the factory in Mantes from hundreds so I guess they may be rare but there are some good ones
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Author: Mark Pinner
Date: 2002-03-07 10:39
One turned up on my work bench and I decided to try it. It is a C* and I keep it with my spare clarinet and it works well. I tried a blind test on a local teacher who picked it over 6 Vandoren B45's and two Selmer C85's.
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Author: JMcAulay
Date: 2002-03-07 15:30
David Spiegelthal reminds us, it's been said: "...if enough monkeys were to sit down at typewriters for a long enough period of time, eventually Shakespeare's works would be written."
Not demonstrated, David. I tried that several years ago. Perhaps I didn't use enough monkeys, or maybe mine were a bit weird, but after a couple of weeks all they had done was three or four pages of William S. Burroughs.
Regards,
John
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Author: David Spiegelthal
Date: 2002-03-07 16:17
John,
You may have something there --- when I tried the "monkeys with typewriters" experiment, all I got was some Ray Bradbury.....
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