CLARINETS DIRECT

020 8893 3172 or 07787 770071

BUFFET RC A CLARINET, £1195

A fine Buffet RC A clarinet, dating to 1976. This instrument is one of several which have come from the collection of a young player, and are a commission sale for Clarinets Direct. When the American investor Martin Tolchin bought Buffet Crampon in the mid 1970's he felt that though the R13 sold well in the USA, different models would be more successful in Europe. The S1, Continentale and BC20, which became the RC, were all attempts to make darker, more focused sounding clarinets. These RC clarinets are extremely rare and fine. They are part of the very first production batch specifically targeted at the UK market and the intrument carries a UK stamp. The RC did sell very well: It had a more relaxed warm tone than the R13, which did attract many UK players.
This A has S/N 167847, which dates to 1976. There is no damage or repairs to the wood, with only minor surface scrathces, the worst of which is on the bell, see photo 9. The Nickel silver plate is also in good shape, with no discernable wear. This instrument will have a full re-pad in double bladder fish skin pads in our workshop, with all touch corks replaced, and tenon corks as necessary. It will be sold with our full 1 year warranty. NB It has been photographed before going down to the workshop. The supplied barrel is of 65mm, stamped RC A. This instrument plays with a dark, focused sound and excellent evenness and intonation, It was manufactured as Buffet's top professional instruments with unstained Grenadilla wood, and, at the time, sold for more than the R13. Today one would have to spend over £5000 on RC Prestige instruments, and choose from a large number of examples, to get anything of like quality. The case is elderly but fully functional. The mouthpiece is a brand new stock Buffet, still wrapped.