Buffet, Festival, B Flat Clarinet
This Buffet Festival Bb clarinet is in good condition. The Festival is based firmly on the R13 Prestige, with the register key tube slightly higher, and adjustments to the upper and lower bore flares to compensate. This type of alteration had in fact been suggested to Buffet in the late 1960's by Moennig, Morgan, and Gigliotti: The result is improved intonation and evenness to the second register, which has meant the Festival is a firm favourite amongst professional players.
This Bb has matching serial nos. F287659, which dates to 1987, this was early in the production run of the Festival. It is common knowledge that when Buffet launch a new model, their best and most experienced workers are tasked with the hand finishing; this example has superb tuning and evenness. The Silver plate shows only slight wear, mainly to the rear thumb bush. The clarinet has just been completely overhauled by us in fish skin pads, and is sold with our 1 year warranty. There is an old carbon fibre banded crack repair to the upper joint. The crack is a small surface crack, which measures less than 3 cms, and it does not go near a tone hole nor into the bore. The carbon fibre repair is the best and strongest available, which should give the next owner peace of mind, see photo 6. All pieces are genuine Buffet stamped Festival. The case is a Buffet in brown leather, in good condition. The supplied mouthpiece is a Buffet C in ebonite in good used condition.