The Clarinet BBoard

The Clarinet BBoard The C4 standard

New Topic | Go to Top | Go to Topic | Search | Help/Rules | Smileys/Notes | Log In

Previous Message | Next Message

Re: buffet E45

Author: Jack Kissinger
Date: 2012-05-30 21:23

Before I totally confuse you, let me give you the short answer. In the Buffet serial number list, at the time your clarinet was made, E12 Master Model was the factory designation for an E45.

Sometime in the 1980's, before your clarinet was made, there was a change in the labeling (designation for marketing purposes) of Buffet's student and intermediate clarinet models. The "table" below gives the old and new designations"

Evette became E11 (made in W. Germany and, after reunification, Germany)
Evette Master Model became E12 (made in W. Germany then Germany)
Evette & Schaeffer became E13 (France)
Evette & Schaeffer Master Model became E45 (France, now discontinued)

So, while it was made, the E45 was Buffet's highest-end intermediate model clarinet. It's predecessor was the E&S Master Model which, by the end of its model life, was a production E&S that performed particularly well on final testing.

I should probably stop here because the rest becomes quite confusing. The confusion arises because the internal factory model designations Buffet used for these clarinets are not the same as the designations used for marketing purposes. In the serial number look-up, the designation for E13 clarinets is actually E12 (and, in earlier years, the designation for Evette and Schaeffer clarinets is "Evette").

The Buffet serial number look-up only includes clarinets made in the main French factory. Thus, the model we know as an E12 is not even listed in the look-up because it was made in the Schreiber factory in Germany. (It's predecessor, the Evette was also never made in the main French factory. It was made in a separate factory in Paris for many years and then, for a few years, in Germany.)

From the late 1950s or early 1960s until the change in designation, Evette & Schaeffer clarinets had a K-prefix to their serial numbers. Roughly during the same time period, Evette models had a D-prefix. After the change in designation, Buffet retained the K-prefix for E13s but apparently assigned a D-prefix to E45s (yours is the second I've seen). I did not know that. That's why I asked if your clarinet had been made in Germany. Now that I think about it, though, I'm reminded that the company dropped the D-prefix from Evette (and presumably Evette Master Model) clarinets, either when it moved production of the Evette models to Germany or when it changed the designation to E11 (E12).

Clear as mud, right?

Best regards,
jnk

Reply To Message | Avail. Forums | Flat View

Newer Topic | Older Topic

Topics