.

I pretty much read through anything I can find with posts looking for model identification. There were a few started in 2010 that had new posts dated 2017. But most threads base their model info on the serial number look up site to get the BCxxxx model number. But none of those lookup sites seem to exist anymore. A small, but significant, percentage of all Buffet and/or Evette-Schaeffer woodwinds in the 1900-1930 range (or so) were Conn stencils and do not have Buffet serial numbers. In the 1990's, Keilwerth stenciled a saxophone for Buffet called the 'Expression' and that model has a Keilwerth serial number.

The serial numbers on both would also point to fairly recent horns (2011ish), but there's no E11 stamp on either. How much are the sellers asking? That might help to pin it down a bit, too. I'd still wait for @Steve or someone with more knowledge of recent Buffet clarinets to come along before buying either horn.

Woodwind Serial Number Link List AKUSTIK Saxophones ALEXANDRE (SELMER) Clarinets See also (serial number drop-down menu) AMERICAN STANDARD All Woodwinds WT ARMSTRONG ARTLEY Flutes, Piccolos, and Clarinets See Also B&S Saxophones Research Link E BEAUGNIER (see also Vito and Leblanc) Saxophones Note F BESSON All Instruments See Also BOOSEY AND HAWKES Note BUESCHER Note Saxophones EVETTE & SCHAEFFER, BUFFET-CRAMPON S.A. Clarinets OboesSee also Saxophones Note BUNDY (incl. SIGNET) Note CANNONBALL SAXOPHONES Saxophones CLEVELAND MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS All Woodwinds CG CONN Professional Saxophones COUESNON For all instruments prior to appx. 1937, there is a grenade fruit with a number inside it stamped on the horn. That number is the year of manufacture. CUNDY - BETTONEY Flutes, Piccolos, and Clarinets Henry DISTIN All Instruments DOLNET Saxophones Peter EATON FOX Double-Reeds IDA MARIA GRASSI Saxophones See Also Wm. S. HAYNES Flutes and Piccolos Wilhelm HECKEL Bassoons HAMMERSCHMIDT Saxophones HOHNER Saxophones Frank HOLTON Saxophones JUPITER All Instruments Brua C. KEEFER Saxophones and Clarinets Note Julius KEILWERTH (and H-COUF) Saxophones Note KING (HN WHITE) KOHLERT All Instruments Note LA SAX All Instruments A. LAUBIN Double-Reeds G. LEBLANC Note LINTON Oboes and Bassoons F. LORÉE (CABART) Double-Reeds Louis LOT Flutes Robert MALERNE MARIGAUX (see also SML) Double Reeds See Also MARTIN BAND INSTRUMENT COMPANY Saxophones See Also MARTIN FRERES Clarinets See also MONANZI Flutes NOBLET NORMANDY Clarinets FE OLDS All Instruments L. PIERRET Saxophones See Also Verne Q. POWELL Flutes G. PRUEFER Clarinets PUCHNER All Instruments FA REYNOLDS All Instruments RIGOUTAT Double-Reeds Luis ROSSI Clarinets RUDALL & ROSE Flutes A. SAX All Instruments See Also SELMER (PARIS) Clarinets Saxophones SELMER (UK/London) Clarinets SELMER (USA) Clarinets SML (Strasser-Marigaux-Lemaire) Saxophones (PDF) See Also Note VITO Saxophones Note WELTKLANG YAMAHA Saxophones Note YANAGISAWA Saxophones JW YORK Saxophones See Also . Notes Beaugnier: If you decided to play around with the serial numbers on http://www.doctorsax.biz/beaugnier_ser_nos.htm, note that he doesn't differentiate between the Leblanc System (two/three versions), Rationale (whichever spelling you wish) and Semi Rationale (two versions). Boosey and Hawkes: 1. Boosey and Hawkes is a combination of the Boosey company and the Hawkes company. Hawkes produced their own instruments, for a time, and combined with Boosey in the 1930s. Boosey and Hawkes have been, since that time, sheet music producers and importers. 2. A lot of the saxophones stamped 'Boosey and Hawkes' are stencil instruments. To read more about stencils, please read my article HERE. Keefer: The vast majority of saxophones stamped 'Keefer' are stencils. Buescher: Horns stamped 'The Buescher Band Instrument Company' from the 1920's are stencils, as are the modern BU-series of horns available from Selmer, and follow different serial number charts. Buffet-Crampon: 1. A small, but significant, percentage of all Buffet and/or Evette-Schaeffer woodwinds in the 1900-1930 range (or so) were Conn stencils and do not have Buffet serial numbers. In the 1990's, Keilwerth stenciled a saxophone for Buffet called the 'Expression' and that model has a Keilwerth serial number. 2. The modern Buffet 400 (and similar) are Asian-made and do not follow these serial number charts. Bundy: 1. The Bundy in question here is from approximately 1950 to date. Earlier horns were a mixture of Conn and Buescher stencils. 2. For a brief time, Bundy and Bundy Special saxophones were available from Keilwerth and Dörfler & Jörka, are stamped 'Made in Germany' and do not have a Bundy serial number. Julius Keilwerth: Except for the ST-90 I and EX-90 I and II, the ST-90 and EX-90 were not made by Keilwerth and probably do not have Keilwerth serial numbers. For a chart of those models, see THIS. Kohlert: The modern Kohlert instruments are made in China or Taiwan. Their serial number format is completely different. The serial numbers listed here are for the German/Czech made instruments. LeBlanc: Leblanc does not give out serial number charts. If you ask them, EXCESSIVELY NICELY, about a serial number off a horn you own, they might tell you when it was made. SML: 1. The SML A400/T400 are Asian-made stencils not made under the authority of SML and are not included in this chart. 2. Some very early SML saxophones were stencils. There are also occasional late-model stencils. For further info, click HERE. Vito: Vito saxophones have been made by Vito (Wisconsin), Beaugnier, Leblanc, Yamaha, Jupiter and Yanagisawa. Keep this in mind when attempting to date your instrument. Yamaha: These serial numbers are probably only for the Vito labeled YAS-21/23/25 stencils. However, these serials might apply to all Yamsaha instruments. The standard info on Yamaha serial numbers is that they are not sequential and you need to contact Yamaha directly for information.

I'm always looking for more info for this chart. If you have any, please drop me a line at thesaxinfo@gmail.com.

Buffet Clarinet Serial Number Lookup

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.

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 E11 Clarinet Serial Number Lookup

You can get some detail on the performance of these clarinets here:
Clarinet Pages E&S Review