 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: Michelle
Date: 2001-04-10 17:28
Hi,
I am traveling to France this May/June and I was wondering if anyone has ever been to the Buffet factory in France (Mantes la Ville, west of Versailles about 30 min.). Is it the original factory? Can you visit the factory, etc?
Thanks,
Michelle
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Author: Aaron
Date: 2001-04-10 23:33
WEll i haven't been there personally, but a close friend has... francois Kloc even gave her the tour(while he was still located in France) . She got to see the entire instillation. She even got some scrap barrels and unfinished top and bottom joints(ones with defects in the wood, or bad cracks). She was amazed that they just showed her everything. she said ti was amazing to see hundreds of clarients just waiting to be finished....I wouls have been in heaven
So go ahead...as far as it being the original factory i dion't know.....but it's a great trip...go for it
Aaron
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Author: Daniel Bouwmeester
Date: 2001-04-11 11:42
Michelle,
I have been there.
Yes the factory is in the original factory in Mantes la Jolie.
Buffet people are quite busy people and will not have time to show you anything really....
If you want to go there, you have to phone them a long time before, and tell them you're student of a famous guy... or something like that... You might want to take your clarinet and tell them you wanna do some adjustements. You might wanna tell them you want to just visit the factory.. maybe they could accept if they have time...... But really there's not much to see apart from lot's of clarinets, it's a very industrialized production..... It's ten times more interesting to visit guyz such as Peter Eaton, or Howarth in London, or Rossi in Italy because they make handcrafted instruments..
You might even want to visit Selmer which is 100 meters away from Buffet on the same street in Mantes. They are much more helpfull than buffet people...
Anyway If you go to Buffet I would recommend you ask for Carlos he's quite nice and helpfull...
There's a train that can take you directly from central Paris to Mantes... it takes about an hour by train..
any other questions email me.
I'm going to Paris soon too to go select myself a new pair of buffet RC's, so we might see ourselves there..
regards
Daniel
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Author: beejay
Date: 2001-04-11 14:34
Daniel,
Mantes la Jolie is not the same as Mantes la Ville. I was there last week.
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Author: karen turner
Date: 2001-04-13 12:03
Yes I have been there twice now, to buy instruments both times. I was treated wonderfully well and then at the end of the day given a tour of the factory which I found particularly interesting. Both times my contact was the manager in charge of business with Italy who is Giancarlo Isoldi. Whether he would have any contact with someone with no Italian connection I don't know and whether you could get a tour of the factory without being there to buy instruments I doubt. However it might be worth a go - contact them up to a month in advance as they have certain days of the month set aside for members of the public to go into the factory. Good luck.
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