 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: Currents
Date: 2023-02-04 11:01
Attachment: AA140F1D-B0A2-43B7-ADA1-E288C3398187.jpeg (527k)
was hoping for a little help identifying this Buffet clari I just got. The serial number is 6975 f. I know that a f can indicate it was made for the European market but I thought it was supposed to be before the numbers, not after. Also marked made in France. The only buffet logo is on the bell. Thanks.
Post Edited (2023-02-04 11:03)
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Author: m1964
Date: 2023-02-04 11:23
It looks like a pre-R13 Buffet but (except for the bell), it is not a Buffet because there are no logo on joints or barrel.
I do not think the logos would wear out completely on both joints if it was a Buffet.
Where does it say "made in France"? Bell only?
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Author: Currents
Date: 2023-02-04 18:34
It says made in France on the upper joint. the serial number is on both the upper and lower joint. The lady I got it from hadn’t played it since 1962, and it was her aunts before that. Sounds amazing, whatever it is. Lol.
Post Edited (2023-02-04 23:29)
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Author: graham
Date: 2023-02-05 00:52
It would be useful to see more of the key work (particularly the pillar(s) for the long lever keys), but it has a 20s/30s look, and the Buffet numbers suggest this may be 1931. But the letter may have been added and not part of the series.
graham
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Author: m1964
Date: 2023-02-05 06:49
It looks to me as a pre-WWII instrument: shared throat G#/A post and shared lt. pinky keys post.
If you bought it to play, not to re-sell, it really does not matter who made it.
Long time ago I had a clarinet like this one (no name) and it had a very nice warm (although "small") tone, but was very much out of tune, probably due to a non-original barrel.
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Author: Currents
Date: 2023-02-05 12:46
I did buy it to play and I’ll love it regardless. I wanted a buffet though; to upgrade from my 1972 Normandy 4. Lol. And I just like to know, to know. ..Maybe I’ll just have to save up for a R-13. Lol.
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Author: John Peacock
Date: 2023-02-05 16:17
The keywork looks consistent with a Buffet of 1931: single post for the long LH lever keys, and no adjusting screw for throat A.
But I don't think this is a Buffet, since the instrument would bear logos. Yes, the ones on the barrel and top joint can often wear away completely if the instrument has been well used. But there is one logo that cannot wear: on the bottom joint, under the rod that actuates the lowest cup. Every Buffet I have ever seen from 1910-ish to the present has a logo cut there. But I don't see one on your photos. Therefore I suspect that this is a stencil of some form.
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Author: Currents
Date: 2023-02-05 17:29
Yeah, my Normandy 4’s logos are already very faint but I see no traces of buffet logos (other than the bell) If you had to guess, would you think the bell was introduced later, or did a did another company counterfeit it?
Post Edited (2023-02-05 17:44)
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Author: John Peacock
Date: 2023-02-05 19:06
> If you had to guess, would you think the bell was introduced later, or did a did another company counterfeit it?
The bell looks genuine. But the lack of a logo beneath the bottom rod (and the strange f after the serial) make it seem much more likely that the bell was a later replacement.
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Author: graham
Date: 2023-02-06 14:17
The ring on the bell looks a little different to the other rings. The finish of the wood can also point towards a replacement part.
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Author: clarnibass
Date: 2023-02-08 09:11
For a real Buffet that serial number is from 1930. Beyond that, I'm not sure. My memory isn't good enough to say if the keys seem like Buffet or not. Same for whether the bell is original or not on a Buffet from 1930. I'm pretty sure I've seen real Buffets with a bell ring that was slightly different from the others and with the F after the serial number.
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