 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: Iceland clarinet
Date: 2008-10-21 14:30
I'm not sure if thread like this has been made before. I have a 3 1/2 years old Buffet Festival Bb clarinet and the silver plating has started to come of on the open A key. I just wanted to do a quality check. How many do have plating wear on their silver plated Buffet clarinets and how old are they.
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Author: William
Date: 2008-10-21 15:25
With the exception of my Buffet Prestige bass clarinet, all of my Buffet clarinets have been replated to silver from nickel, except one which I had replated to gold. In spite of extensive use, especially with my original R13 Bb clarinet, I have not experianced any wearing of the plateing on any of my clarinets keys, even the thumb ring, register or A & Ab keys which are usually the first to go. I do not wipe the keys after use nor do I use any polishing materials, ever. Just swab them and store them in their cases until the next practice or gig. Maybe it's just "dumb luck" but that's my story (and I'm stick'n too it).
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Author: BobD
Date: 2008-10-21 15:29
Iceland.....you probably have more than a normal amount of salt and possibly sulfur fumes in your country....don't you suppose?
Bob Draznik
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Author: Wes
Date: 2008-10-21 20:40
1912 Silver plated Buffet Bb - no wear.
1921 Nickel plated Buffet A - no wear.
1971 Nickel plated Buffet Bb - no wear.
1998 Nickel plated Buffet A - no wear.
2005 Nickel plated Buffet Bb - wear on several keys.
1984 Silver plated Loree oboe - wear on several keys.
1986 Silver plated Loree EH - no wear.
2006 Silver plated Loree oboe - no wear.
This is all about five miles from the Pacific Ocean. Good luck!
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Author: Ryan25
Date: 2008-10-21 21:06
2005 R13B-flat Silver Plate-No Wear
2005 R13A Nikel Plate- Some wear and a lot of clouding
Post Edited (2008-10-21 21:13)
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Author: Margaret
Date: 2008-10-21 22:12
Hello,
I don't own any buffets, but I have an idea about your plating problem.
My sister's violin teacher told her that people with blonde or red hair have more acidic (or something like that- I forget exactly) perspiration and often need their violins' varnish touched up. She needs her's done every year. My sister (a brunette) never needs anything like that. I, too, am a brunette, and for what it's worth my clarinet (nickel plated) has no wear/ clouding that was not present when I bought it 10 years ago. The one I fixed up in February (also nickel) has no wear either.
So regardless of whether or not you have red/ blonde hair, perhaps you just take plating off and it's not a plating-quality issue.
Margaret
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Author: Iceland clarinet
Date: 2008-10-22 00:31
Well I used an R-13 Prestige Bb clarinet bought in 1994 from 2001-2005 that was used by a clarinetist in the Icelandic symphony orchestra. His clarinet had a plating wear on the A key(that I don't know when appeared but it was there when I bought it in 2001) and it got no other wear in those 5 years that I played it,nor did the plating wear on the A key wear out more. What I'm curious about is if the plating quality(I know about the recent nickel plated R-13 clarinets) of newer silver plated Buffet clarinets has gone down.
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Author: L. Omar Henderson
Date: 2008-10-22 00:58
Plating is an experiment of one. Each plating batch, although all parameters can be similar, is slightly different because the plating bath can become contaminated over time and must be changed and affects plating efficiency, and the temperature and voltage, although within a specified range, can slightly alter plating efficiency. Timing and the absolute purity of the plating anode are also variables. There are probably better batches of plated keys than others - just the variability in the process. Thicker plating does cost more money too! Our personal sweat pH and salt content also lead to more or less corrosive plating deterioration as well as skin coarseness.
L. Omar Henderson
www.doctorsprod.com
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Author: Gordon (NZ)
Date: 2008-10-22 05:06
Without pussy-footing around the great god, Buffet....
In my experience, the silver plating of newer Buffets is rather poor. I often see plating that is worn off keys after only a couple of years.
Indeed, I would classify it as so thin as to be merely decorative, rather than robust like the plating on many older instruments of several brands. It seems to me that the plating on current Buffets is also poor compared with that on other popular current brands.
By robust I mean of sufficient quality and thickness to stand up to significant handling, which is normal use for a clarinet. This sort of robust quality is used on quality "silver" cutlery, which can often be used for decades without the plating wearing through. For goodness sake, the plating on those old Chinese Lark clarinets is far more robust than that on modern Buffets.
Is there an easy way to actually quantify my assertions by measuring the thickness?
Corrosive perspiration... This tends to cause blistering of silver plating, rather than wearing through it first on the keys that receive most friction.
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Author: pewd
Date: 2008-10-22 05:19
i've seen numerous problems with 1-4 year old student instruments in the last 5 or so years. all nickel plated. so i've switched and now recommend silver plated only for my students.
bummer, this is the first i've heard of silver plated buffets having the same issue.
don't pussy foot gordon - tell it like it is - buffet in recent years has quality control issues with their plating process. like, the last 20 years or so... i don't believe i've seen this issue with approx. 1980 or older r13s.
- Paul Dods
Dallas, Texas
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Author: clarnibass
Date: 2008-10-22 07:23
Buffet from 2000, played for approx five years, then sits in the case and only occasionally played a little, no wear at all.
Bass clarinet from 2004, played regularly, no wear.
I also have here at the moment a bass clarinet from 200, and there's no wear at all.
Generally from seeing some new Buffets I don't notice anyting significantly wrong with the silver plating actually.
I think Omar is right. For example, I recently organized the old pile of clarinet 'stuff'. Among it was a small plastic bag with two silver plated plates of a Vandoren Optimum ligature. They were in the same bag, in the same box, in identical conditions for several years. They were like new when I put them there. They both came in the same box with the same ligature. One of the plates was badly tarnished and the other looked almost like new.
I don't know how the organization is at the Buffet factory as far as what keys go on what instrument, but it's not impossible that some keys on a clarinet would have better plating than others.
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