CLARINETS DIRECT

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MATCHED PAIR OF BUFFET CRAMPON, EVETTE & SCHAEFFER, E13 CLARINETS, £1695

An extremely rare and unique pair of Buffet Crampon, Evette & Schaeffer, E13 clarinets in Nickel silver plate. This pair have a fine provenance, having been bought new by Nicholas Carpenter, one of the UK's most successful clarinettists [a letter signed by Nick is included in the sale]. It was his recording of the Mozart Clarinet Quintet which was the BBCR3 CD review recommendation. In addition to his solo career Nick was Principal Clarinet of the Bournemouth Sinfonietta, and later a member of the LPO. The pair were made in 1972, and at this time Buffet UK were based at Pages Walk in South London, it was from here that the pair were selected. At this time the Evette and Schaeffer was manufactured alongside the superb R13, which was Buffet's flagship model. All E&S clarinets should have a "K" serial number suffix, but the A of this pair has serial number 126929. This suggests that it was, in fact, manufacured as an R13 professional A, and then subsequently stamped "Evette & Schaeffer". This is unique in our experience, but, at that time, the difference between the top student model and the professional R13 was much narrower than it is now: Like the R13, E&S clarinets were hand undercut and finished in the so called "Golden Era". This E&S pair are much superior, in every respect; quality of wood, intonation, and tone to contemporary mass produced E13 Buffet clarinets.
There is no damage to the wood, which is crack and repair free. The plating overall is in fine condition with only slight loss to the RH ring keys.  Both instruments have had a complete re-pad in Pisoni Premium Deluxe leather pads and are sold with a full years' warranty. The Bb has S/N K26927, the A S/N 126929.  The mouthpiece is a used Vandoren B45 in good condition. The case is again the original Buffet in black leather, it shows some wear to the interiorlining, and scuffs to the exterior but latches and protects the pair well. Current E13s are being treated by Buffet with a chemical compound, which is supposed to inhibit cracking. In fact this seems to be causing some joint problems for Buffet, with many new instrument owners reporting problems with sticking joints to dealers, due to this compound leaching out from the wood end grain. At the period these instruments were made, thankfully the Grenadilla wood was left to age naturally prior to manufacture.