 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: xpedx7342
Date: 2009-08-24 16:00
Hello. I currently have a Bb R-13, but I am considering getting a better clarinet as my R-13 is a bit mangled up. If anyone could give me descriptions on the Buffet Clarinets (RC level and up) that would be great! Please base them on your own experiences and others who have played them. I don't need the description from the Buffet website; I have read those already.
Thank you! I hope this thread will be of help to others as well!
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Author: Bob Phillips
Date: 2009-08-24 16:21
Buffets vary greatly within each model. A very good R13 will play better than a bad Tosca.
Try many (2-dozen?) and find your dream horn --independent of model or price.
Bob Phillips
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Author: Joseph Brenner, Jr.
Date: 2009-08-24 16:34
You say that you are looking for "a better clarinet" because your R13 is "a bit mangled up." "Better" is in the mind of the player. You do not say what's wrong with your R13. Since many top-of-the-upper strata clarinet players worldwide have achieved their fame on R13s, I wonder whether you've considered sending your "mangled up" up clarinet to one of the wizard craftsmen around the country who might remake your R13 into "the sweetest clarinet ever made." (This might cost you much less and yield better results than buying a "better clarinet," especially one that's just fresh from the factory. Best wishes
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Author: marcia
Date: 2009-08-24 16:34
Can you clarify "a bit mangled up". Does it need a visit to the repair shop?
Marcia
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Author: xpedx7342
Date: 2009-08-24 16:54
I apologize for not being clear. My R-13 has been destroyed by a falling bookshelf of clarinet music. I cannot play it anymore. And I would like a better clarinet as I have never played any of the other pro-level ones and am interested in playing a different model.
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Author: JJAlbrecht
Date: 2009-08-24 17:06
There are several Buffets in the R13 family. There is the R13, of course. The Festival is the next step up. it has metal tenon caps, supposedly better wood, and a LH Eb/Ab lever. The Prestige is similar, and supposedly made of the premium wood.
Other bores are the RC and RC Prestige. these have a different bore, and sem more popular in Europe than in the US. Again, the Prestige model is supposedly made of better wood.
The top of hte line, according to Buffet is the Tosca, which has the extra key work as the other models above the R13 all feature, plus what is dubrd as a "Low F correction key." It has received mixed reviews. Some love it, and others think it isn't sufficiently better than the R13 family to warrant the extra price. Again, it has a different bore.
There are also "Vintage R13" models, which are supposed to be more like the original R13 clarinets of the '50s and early '60s.
Which one iis best suited to you, only you and your teacher can determine. Since you're in Illinois, according to yuour ISP listing, why not visit either Walter Grabner or Lisa's Clarinet Shop and see what they have to offer, and what you think of the various instruments? They are listed in the links to the right of this page, under instruments.
EDIT: Walter is listed under MOUTHPIECES, not instruments.
Jeff
“Everyone discovers their own way of destroying themselves, and some people choose the clarinet.” Kalman Opperman, 1919-2010
"A drummer is a musician's best friend."
Post Edited (2009-08-24 17:07)
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Author: Mark Charette
Date: 2009-08-24 17:35
xpedx7342 wrote:
> And I would like a better clarinet
Whatever that means ... more expensive?
> as I have never
> played any of the other pro-level ones and am interested in
> playing a different model.
Thant actually makes more sense ... but why limit yourself to just a different model of the same brand?
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Author: xpedx7342
Date: 2009-08-24 23:05
I apologize for the controversy that has arisen. If anyone knows a fantastic clarinet of any brand, please describe it for me.
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Author: Iceland clarinet
Date: 2009-08-24 23:46
JJA1brecht wrote:
"There are several Buffets in the R13 family. There is the R13, of course. The Festival is the next step up. it has metal tenon caps, supposedly better wood, and a LH Eb/Ab lever. The Prestige is similar, and supposedly made of the premium wood".
The Festival,R-13 Prestige and RC Prestige are all on the same price/standard level and have all the special Premium wood. In fact all thoose clarinets plus the R-13 Vintage(with the same features minus tenon caps) are priced the same in Europe. Only in USA I have seen them priced differently.
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Author: JJAlbrecht
Date: 2009-08-24 23:48
Well, the psoter is in the US, so pricing might make a difference. There must be functional differences, also, else why have so many different models?
Jeff
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Author: tholland
Date: 2009-08-25 16:36
I'm a Selmer girl myself. I own an '80's era 10S, two actually, and love love love them. Big warm sound in all registers, and if you find the right one, quite easy to blow, clear focused and...oh well, is this just like the difference between Ford and Chevy....? Who knows! Try and find a store that will let you stand there and play a bunch of different horns, dozens. Picking out my first pro horn was a 4+ hour process, I tried every one in the store...Buffet...Yamaha...Selmer....found one that I could not live without.
Good luck!
Tammy Holland
Returning Lost Clarinetist
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