Info needed on this Evette and Schaefer Buffet Crampon Paris Bass Clarinet?

evinjaq

Hello, so I found this Bass Clarinet on eBay.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/351923219343
Click the picture in the listing and scroll down to see more photos.

I've done some research on these. Somewhere on this forums or elsewhere, I've read that there were wrongly stamped Buffet Crampon basses that stamped "Evette and Schaefer" and became the "Master Model"? This paticular one on eBay does NOT have the words "Master Model" above the initial stamping. All it reads is "Evette and Schaefer Paris France" and then "Modele Buffet Crampon" on the bottom. From what I've also learned there were several types of Buffet Crampon basses, the E11s, E12s, E13s, R11s, R12s and the R13s. What are the differences between the E series and the R series?

The thing that is hard for me to understand is the serial. Seller says the serial is "1943". Is that possible? I cannot find that serial data anywhere. The Buffet Crampons that I see online all have a letter Prefix before the numbers, this one does not. I do not know how old this is.

Anyone know this paticular model with THAT stamping or are any features recognizable?
Is this a professional or student model?
 
I've only heard of that supposed relabeling applying to soprano clarinets, not ever about basses.
E11, E12, E13, and R13 are all Bb Clarinets, with the E-series being intermediate instruments and the R professional. Never heard of an R11 or R12.
It probably is the serial, as the serials on Buffet's harmony Clarinets don't always match up with their Bbs.
I'd assume this is a student or intermediate level, on the same level as Bbs of the same model.
 
evinjaq said:
Hello, so I found this Bass Clarinet on eBay.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/351923219343
Click the picture in the listing and scroll down to see more photos.

I've done some research on these. Somewhere on this forums or elsewhere, I've read that there were wrongly stamped Buffet Crampon basses that stamped "Evette and Schaefer" and became the "Master Model"? This paticular one on eBay does NOT have the words "Master Model" above the initial stamping. All it reads is "Evette and Schaefer Paris France" and then "Modele Buffet Crampon" on the bottom. From what I've also learned there were several types of Buffet Crampon basses, the E11s, E12s, E13s, R11s, R12s and the R13s. What are the differences between the E series and the R series?

The thing that is hard for me to understand is the serial. Seller says the serial is "1943". Is that possible? I cannot find that serial data anywhere. The Buffet Crampons that I see online all have a letter Prefix before the numbers, this one does not. I do not know how old this is.

Anyone know this paticular model with THAT stamping or are any features recognizable?
Is this a professional or student model?
Click to expand...

As mentioned above, all the information you have listed is related to Buffet Soprano clarinets, not their basses.

If a clarinet is not visibly marked "Master Model", then it's *NOT* a Master Model.

With R13s, there were different "models" identified with the various key options such as R13-1/2, R14 etc where they were one of the various enhanced boehms, and full boehms.

I do not know much about basses, but I think that is a Marlerne made bass, labeled by Buffet as an Evette Scheffer.
And it looks Rubber from the pictures (which would definitely be Malerne made then).
 
Is Marlene a good maker? I though Buffet made their own instruments.

So does this look like a student or pro horn from the rubber you described? I have no idea how old it is.
 
evinjaq said:
Is Marlene a good maker? I though Buffet made their own instruments.

So does this look like a student or pro horn from the rubber you described? I have no idea how old it is.
Click to expand...
Student/Intermediate instruments

Evette is student
Evette-Schaeffer is Intermediate
Buffet is Pro

this was the nomenclature back up until the mid 1980s about.
Just by the name one would know it is being sold as an intermediate bass clarinet.

Back then Buffet only made their own Pro instruments.
later on Shreiber made their E11s, E12s soprano clarinets
Malerne made a lot of their cheaper priced clarinets until they ceased to exist and Shreiber took their place.
Shreiber is now owned by Buffet
 
evinjaq said:
This was one of the sites I got info from although all may not be accurate, has a similar stamping on the Bass but has a K Prefix serial.

http://test.woodwind.org/clarinet/BBoard/read.html?f=1&i=380134&t=380022
Click to expand...

First, that link is a thread about soprano clarinets. Not bass clarinets.

older K prefix E&S soprano clarinets were made by Buffet
The other prefixes A, B C D E were made by Malerne

but that is for Soprano Clarinets.

Malerne made a line of rubber soprano and bass clarinets. Buffet didn't.
Thus, if that is rubber which it looks like, it's a Malerne made clarinet.
Plus it has the mini slotted trill key guide which is Malerne (and Shreiber and another old out of business french maker I can't recall) but not Buffet.

FYI .. I'm on that link above to the clarinet bboard.
 
Thanks for the info guys, so what I can make of this is that this is a
Bass probably made by Malerne for the Evette and Schaefer Buffet Crampon label name, and has a rubber Rudy instead of wood or plastic. This is most likely an intermediate instrument.

The serial number "1943" is still a mystery, it couldn't have been a Malerne serial could it? This is a E&S Buffet Crampon label after all.
 
evinjaq said:
The serial number "1943" is still a mystery, it couldn't have been a Malerne serial could it? This is a E&S Buffet Crampon label after all.
Click to expand...

Why not Malerne?
This is a bass clarinet. Do not correlate soprano clarinet serial numbers to a bass clarinet.
Do not correlate Buffet serial numbers to a Malerne, or vice versa.

You left out the part about it being Rubber and how Malerne made rubber clarinets and Buffet didn't.

What do you make of "Evette sponsored by Buffet" labels? Evette Buffet Crampon labels.

You see rebadged everything out there over the years .. saxophones, cars, computers, etc. what makes clarinets special?
 
So what are the general opinions on Malerne made instruments? Build quality compared to some of the E11s E13s from Buffet?
 
evinjaq said:
So what are the general opinions on Malerne made instruments? Build quality compared to some of the E11s E13s from Buffet?
Click to expand...

once again, are you talking soprano clarinets
or bass clarinets ?

soprano clarinets Malerne made student, intermediate and pro level clarinets.
Buffet made only intermediate and pro clarinets. But they mostly used Malerne and Shreiber for student and intermediate clarinets.

Malerne's pro clarinets are very nice but do not compete against Buffet pro clarinets.
Intermediate .. "current" intermediate clarinets Buffet has had quality problems thus shifted production back to Shreiber.
old ones are nice, I have one sitting on the shelf.
The Malerne is comparable. Shreiber clarinets (the newer ones from mid 90s forward) are much sturdier.

Bass-wise for vintage
Buffet didn't make Intermediate bass clarinets, only Pro ..from what little I've tracked of bass clarinets.
Thus no comparison is available other than the Buffet was at Pro level, and the Malerne lower than that but play nicely when they are properly set up.
I have a wood Malerne bass clarinet sitting around here somewhere. It's "okay" but I'd rather have a double octave mechanism Noblet .. sounds a lot better.
 
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evinjaq said:
So what are the general opinions on Malerne made instruments? Build quality compared to some of the E11s E13s from Buffet?
Click to expand...
I have an Evette Master Model Bb Clarinet, it plays decently, the intonation could be better. Fairly good instrument, though I prefer others, I could get by on it.
I'll let someone who's played a Malerne Bass say something on the subject.
(Okay Steve posted while I was typing.)
 
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