 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: Mahleah
Date: 2014-08-23 01:56
Hi! I have an older Buffet clarinet. I need to get it repaired, but since I live in the middle of nowhere, I am going to have to ship to a repair shop. I am hoping to have more information on it when I start contacting possible repairman. I found the serial number and tried to use the internet to determine when the clarinet was manufactured, but I can't find my serial number amongst the lists. The serial number is 1567D. I have found 1D-999D on the lists, but then the next entry is E1-E999. Am I not reading the lists correctly or what? Any help with this would be great! Thank you!
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Author: Ken Shaw ★2017
Date: 2014-08-23 02:59
The serial numbers on old Buffets were very lightly stamped and can be hard to read. Scrub the area with a damp toothbrush to clean out any crud and post a photo. Full-length photos from the front, back, left and right would also help.
Ken Shaw
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Author: Mahleah
Date: 2014-08-24 20:40
Thank you for your help, Ken. Here are the pictures. I hope they are what you were looking for. Tanks to my awesome husband for being the clarinet holder. :-)
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Author: Mahleah
Date: 2014-08-24 20:42
Thank you for your help, Ken. Here are the pictures. I hope they are what you were looking for. Thanks to my awesome husband for being the clarinet-holder. :-)
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Author: Mahleah
Date: 2014-08-24 20:50
Thank you for your help, Ken. Here are the pictures. I hope they are what you were looking for. Thanks to my awesome husband for being the clarinet-holder. :-) I am having to make a few posts for the pictures, because they are too large to post all together.
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Author: Mahleah
Date: 2014-08-24 21:02
Attachment: bar-low.gif (551k)
Attachment: front-low.gif (161k)
Attachment: back-low.gif (332k)
Attachment: left-low.gif (327k)
Attachment: right-low.gif (334k)
Thank you for your help, Ken. Here are the pictures. I hope they are what you were looking for. Thanks to my awesome husband for being the clarinet-holder. :-) We had to reduce the quality to post them. Each one was too large to post even individually.
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Author: bill28099
Date: 2014-08-24 22:11
Could the last digit be a poorly made 0, that would date it to 1934. The rest of the digits appear nice and clear to me.
A great teacher gives you answers to questions
you don't even know you should ask.
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Author: Ken Shaw ★2017
Date: 2014-08-24 23:31
Well, it looks Buffet-ish, but without the trademark, I can't tell.
The serial numbers were stamped by hand, so it's not unusual to see them misaligned, as yours are.
In that era, there were flat springs beneath the throat A key, the left little finger C#/G# key and the right little finger F#/C# key. Threaded holes were drilled from the bottoms of the keys all the way to the upper surface. Then brass screws were put in to hold the springs to the bottom and filed flush. They look like gold dots on the tops of the keys.
Ken Shaw
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Author: Mahleah
Date: 2014-08-24 23:56
Attachment: Bar2-low.gif (226k)
Attachment: logo1-low.gif (315k)
Attachment: logo2-low.gif (339k)
I actually just shipped the clarinet to a repair shop in Denver, Colorado. Once I get it back, I will look for the gold dots, but I don't remember seeing anything like that. However, I really wasn't looking for them either. I zoomed in on the areas of the original pictures I sent you, and I do not see any gold dots.
I looked at the "D" and it really looks like a "D" and not a "0". I have pictures of the logo and a picture of the serial number from a slightly different angle. They are attached.
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Author: bill28099
Date: 2014-08-25 00:38
Ok I'm looking at your back low gif and 3 Buffets from 1918-1922. All three have the C#/G# spring which is not shown on your instrument. Also, my thumb rests appear to be slightly different then the ones on your horn. My right hand pinky finger keys appear to be shorter and fatter then yours and the right hand banana key is longer extending just past the upper ring. I guess the next question is does the lower joint have a Buffet logo? You can't tell from the supplied photos.
A great teacher gives you answers to questions
you don't even know you should ask.
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Author: Steven Ocone
Date: 2014-08-25 00:57
I'm not an expert on identifying vin tags, but I notice that two left hand levers share the same post and the thumb rest is an older style. The barrel could be more recent than the clarinet.
Steve Ocone
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Author: pewd
Date: 2014-08-25 01:08
And a common top joint G#/A key post.
- Paul Dods
Dallas, Texas
Post Edited (2014-08-25 01:09)
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Author: Ken Shaw ★2017
Date: 2014-08-25 06:12
A trademark on the barrel is meaningless. It only proves that it's a Buffet barrel. What counts is one on the upper joint above the throat A key, on the lower joint above the low E pad, and on the bell.
Ken Shaw
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Author: Mahleah
Date: 2014-08-26 06:28
I wanted to make sure you all knew that I am not ignoring you and I greatly appreciate your help. I have to wait for it to come back from the repair shop to look for logos on the other pieces. I don't remember any on the main pieces, but I do remember that the bell said "VIRTUOSO". I don't know when I will get it back. It was only going in for a check up and a sticky key. I hope it doesn't take too long. :-) Again, thanks for your help and I will post my findings once it returns from the doctors.
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