Buffet Crampon Serial#

[lordkos]

I have a Buffet Crampon with the serial# 400019. Everything I have found says it was made in 1995. The problem is, I bought it in 1978 and it looked old then.
Yes I have double-checked and there are three zeroes and the serial numbers match.
The only other marking I can find is the Buffet stamp.

Bufffet
Crampon & Cie
A Paris
BC
Made France

Any Ideas?

 

[pete]

We Need Pictures. Take These!

It'd also be a good idea to say what Buffet clarinet we're talking about. Bb soprano? A? Eb sopranino? Bass?

 

[lordkos]

B-flat clarinet

We Need Pictures. Take These!

It'd also be a good idea to say what Buffet clarinet we're talking about. Bb soprano? A? Eb sopranino? Bass?

 

[pete]

Darrn it! Pressed the wrong button. Accidentally deleted your pics. Sorry about that. I welcome you to repost. I'll stop playing with the buttons!

Anyhow, take a look at this, where Steve compares an R13 to a "pre-R13." I could see that you have separate posts for the throat keys. It looked like you had barrel trill key guides. I didn't see a good pic of the bridge key for your horn.

The question has also been brought up before. Here's a thread from a gentleman that was looking at a s/n 439224 R13, but it was an obviously very old clarinet, so there's precedence. My opinion is that the number duplicated twice -- 00 in your case and 22 in the thread on woodwind.org -- are misprints AND the serial number chart is off just a bit: Buffet had their serial number data destroyed a couple times, that's why you see the "SN are approximate" note on Steve's website. In other words, your serial number is probably 40,019 and was produced around 1955.

 

[lordkos]

B-Flat

 

[lordkos]

Looks like I missed a few of the pics needed. Hope these help.

 

[clarnibass]

I was going to suggest (although it's a small chance) maybe it's a "typo" in the stamp by mistake, but if I understand the photos right, the serial number is stamped on both sections and it's the same, yes?

Nothing against this forum, but you can try the clarinet board, where there are a lot more people who might know http://test.woodwind.org/clarinet/BBoard/list.html?f=1

 

[pete]

My opinion is that the number duplicated twice -- 00 in your case and 22 in the thread on woodwind.org -- are misprints AND the serial number chart is off just a bit: Buffet had their serial number data destroyed a couple times, that's why you see the "SN are approximate" note on Steve's website. In other words, your serial number is probably 40,019 and was produced around 1955.

I was going to suggest (although it's a small chance) maybe it's a "typo" in the stamp by mistake, but if I understand the photos right, the serial number is stamped on both sections and it's the same, yes?

And the not reading the thread award goes to ...

 

[clarnibass]

And the not reading the thread award goes to ...

What do I win?

Though I was asking if I'm seeing right and the same serial number is on both sections. That makes it less likely to be a typo, unless even back then it was a machine that was set up wrong, or maybe a worker who made a "mental" mistake as opposed to making the exact same physical mistake twice. Who knows?
Another possibility is that they made a typo on the first section and they decided it was more important for the two sections to match, so they put the same number on the other section. That actually makes sense.

 

[pete]

Everything's speculation, of course. I'd think that, considering there were at least two horns with the "bad" serial numbers -- and I didn't exactly look hard to find the other one -- it's possible that the sn info from Buffet at that time was just incorrectly reported on the sn charts that currently exist. Or Buffet's sn stamping machine wasn't working right for a couple years. Or, as you say, someone just kept repeating the same mistake. Something like that.

You win a cookie! It's in your browser.

 

[lordkos]

Yes it is the same on both sections.
I believe you get a cookie now. :smile:
Thanks for your input.

 

[pete]

It's in your browser!

EDIT: First WF post of 2016!