Matched Pair of Buffet, Evette & Schaeffer, E13 Clarinets
An extremely fine matched pair of "UK" stamp Evette & Schaeffer E13 Clarinets, which are a commission sale for Clarinets Direct. When Alan Lucas became managing director of Buffet UK Ltd he made strenuous efforts to offer outstanding value, well manufactured clarinets to the UK market. At the forefront of this were the famous "UK" stamp model Buffet R13 and E13 clarinets which set a new bench mark of affordable quality in the UK, which ultimately resulted in Boosey & Hawkes acquisition of Buffet.
Like the R13, E&S clarinets were hand undercut and made in the same factory as the professional models. This E&S pair are much superior, in every respect; quality of wood, intonation, and tone to contemporary mass produced E13 Buffet clarinets. This was reflected in the asking price, E&S clarinets were only 20% cheaper than R13s of the period.
There is no damage to the wood, which is crack and repair free. The Nickel Silver plating overall is in fine condition with only slight tarnish, which contrasts sharply with the quality of current Buffet plating. The Bb has matching S/N K47585. the A. S/N 52501, dating to the early 1980s, these are a single owner pair. Unusually the A lacks the "K" prefix, it may well have been made as a Buffet R13 A, or it could simply be human error that the prefix is missing. Both clarinets have used fish skin pads which are sealing well. All parts are original, matching and stamped. The double case is a Buffet in fine used condition, as is the m'piece, a stock Buffet. 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. If desried the pair can be split as follows: A in double case, without m'piece for £895, Bb in single case with m'piece for £845.