- Buffet's Serial number search page If you put the number in the search bar it gives a manufacture date of 30 April 1953. The modern Vintage series by Buffet was the company's attempt to replicate the bore of the pre-R13. 1953 almost immediately precedes the R13 era.
- The ABS resin injection-molded upper joint inner bore of this Duet+ intermediate Bb clarinet provides the optimal combination of durability and tone quality for student musicians. YCL-255 Student Bb Clarinets.
I am looking for the year of manufacture of a Buffet Bb bass clarinet, German/simple system, to low E. Buffet-Crampon logo is clear and the serial number is also clear, 1584. I can't find this in the lists of Buffet serial numbers referred to on the Bulletin Board. Buffet pulled E11 production away from Schreiber effectively discontinuing the German-made E11 in favor of the E11 France. It is important to note that only the E11 Bb clarinet production was pulled from Schreiber. E11 clarinets in the key of C & Eb as well as B10, B12 and the student and intermediate oboes all remained with Schreiber in Germany.
Some time ago I received a question about Evette & Schaeffer Clarinets. I happen to own one myself, with a similar serial number, and I also had trouble at first finding out much about it – there seemed to be a lot of conflicting information about Evette & Schaeffers and a lot of confusion about whether they were the same as Evette clarinets.
Here’s the question I was asked, and some of the information I found from both official and unofficial sources.
Question: I am looking for the history of my clarinet and cannot find the background on Bb Evette & Schaeffer clarinet Buffet Crampon Paris France serial number K31xxx. Can you help?
Answer: Coincidentally I also have an Evette and Schaeffer with the serial number K29xxx. I couldn’t find much information on these clarinets either, so I emailed Buffet Crampon a few years ago and was told mine is an intermediate clarinet made in 1973. I don’t know how many they made each year, but yours is probably no more than a couple of years newer. I think they are roughly equivalent in quality to the Buffet E13’s – a high-end intermediate.
The Evette & Schaeffer clarinets are nice instruments. In my research I stumbled across rumors that they were actually professional R13’s that had been labelled differently because of minor flaws in wood grain or finish. I don’t believe that’s true (nor do any of the more knowledgeable people I’ve asked), but I have seen great reviews of these clarinets.
A professional clarinetist I know tried mine out for me before I bought it. He said it was excellent, and he wouldn’t hesitate to play a gig using it.
Buffet Crampon Serial Number Search
Many people think they are student instruments because Buffet made an Evette student model (no Schaeffer on the end). The Evette and Schaeffer is a different, and better, instrument.
Buffet Crampon Serial Number Lookup
You can get some detail on the performance of these clarinets here:
Clarinet Pages E&S Review