The ClarinetPages Forum

For many years, some lower-tier Buffet clarinets were made by W. Schreiber in Germany. I don't know for sure which models were made by them when; that said, that looks like a Schreiber serial number.

Schreiber serial numbers reached 200000 around 1980 according to my notes, and extrapolating based on the other extremely limited data I have would put your instrument in 1982. I believe it was 1983 when B-C did away with the Evette name and rebranded this model the Buffet E-11, so you might have one of the last ones so named. Schrieber does have production records that they can look up, so you could contact them to get a precise date of manufacture.

I have a 1977 Buffet price list that shows the Evette Master Model as having nickel-plated keywork. From the closeup in the third picture above, it looks like nickel plating to me. I've never tried a silver polishing cloth on nickel, but using Flitz it too turns the cloth black. If the keywork was tarnished a dull gray before polishing, it's nickel. (And that isn't a knock against it - nickel plating is more durable and requires less maintenance. The only tangible benefit of silver plate is to someone with a nickel allergy.)

Having "Master Model" only on the upper joint is how they were - the upper joint is the only one with enough space to have it in addition to the Evette marking.

I'd lean towards a music ed undergrad - many of them are preparing to teach 10-year-olds anyway and would be more likely to be interested in teaching private lessons for a beginner. I don't think being rigorous is going to enter into it for the first couple years - there are a lot of fundamentals to start with.

A used clarinet that's had a full repad done should run about $225-$300 depending on the model and your location.

For a used beginner clarinet, the best overall option in my opinion is the Vito (and it's numerous permutations). Sturdy keywork, consistent design, and consistent quality. Plastic Yamaha models are well-regarded but command a high price on the used market. The plastic Buffet models were the B10 and B12 (older ones were called Evette) and should be solid choices as well.

The Symphony 1010 was Boosey & Hawkes' top-of-the-line clarinet. That one looks to be in excellent condition.

Value is going to depend a lot on your location - these have an uncommonly-large bore and are highly desirable to those who want that, but the market is a bit soft right now. It'll probably need some work on account of its age, so if you have a repair shop near you, you could ask to have it evaluated (and if they're a music store as well, they might be able to advise better on value).

It was made in 1967.

Is the body material wood or plastic?

Value is dependent on its condition, and possibly your location to an extent.

In November 2013, I bought three clarinets from Siwek Lumber in Minneapolis, all apparent castoffs from Minneapolis Public Schools. Two were Pedlers - a metal American and a wood 18-key/7-ring Premier.

Twelve-and-a-half years later, that spark has become this: Pedler serial number charts.

http://stockinstrumentrepair.wordpress.com/pedler-clarinets/

The only detailed ones so far are the one for metal clarinets and the one for the Grenolite; the rest are either very rough or generally nonexistent. However, these are at least something, while what'd heretofore been available was decidedly nothing.

A handful of military-issue instruments all appearing in quick succession last year established a reliable range of WWII production, and the Martin earlier in this thread cemented the early part of the run. Knowing that metal clarinets were still available in 1955 but gone by the end of 1957 gave me a narrow enough end point to run with it.

I hope to improve these as information becomes available, but since what I have now was a long time coming and anything more would likely be a long wait, now was the time to publish. Special thanks to Windsong for the research he's done in parallel.

I can't be sure, but I think that oboe is a plastic Bundy.

Swedging pliers. It isn't easy to do and takes a careful touch, but the alternative is making a new, larger-diameter hinge rod.

These are the ones I have. MusicMedic has added new ones to their lineup, but I've never tried them.

The Josef Böhm files have long been the gold standard:
https://www.boehmtools.com/fileadmin/Assets/boehmtools/downloads/tools/EN_WOOD_07_Special-Tools-for-Clarinet-Oboe-Bassoon.pdf.pdf

Lower on the price scale, MusicMedic now sells a set of shaped tools that use sandpaper instead:
https://www.musicmedic.com/clarinet-tone-hole-surfacing-tool.html

I have enough irons in the fire that I resist looking deeply into Penzel-Mueller, but here's what might be a valuable data point:
https://goldenerainstruments.com/collections/clarinets/products/penzel-mueller-artist-professional-metal-clarinet-circa-1940s-1

A metal Artist, serial number K-748, produced for the U.S. military. Not a guarantee of WWII production, but a strong possibility.

I suspect at least something is being lost in translation.

Ebonite is starting to make a comeback (e.g. Ridenour) so it's not strange for Yinfente to offer that.

"Bakelite" refers to a specific phenolic resin and it's unlikely anyone would make musical instruments from it today - I think they're just trying to toss out as many marketing terms as they can.

The keywork doesn't appear to be shared with anything else.

Beyond that, I think I'm out of information - wood with a plastic barrel and bell, extra-large bore, made in the 1930s.

I have one known Leblanc sale date in my notes - fortunately, it's helpful.

6171 was originally purchased in April 1956, which would suggest 1957-58 for yours. It doesn't quite fit with when Leblanc is known to have started using the Stubbins mechanism, but it's something.

Model number... is a bit difficult to figure for sure. In 1958, the only Leblanc clarinet listed as being available in A was the 1076-3 Symphonie III. In 1959, both the Symphonie 3 and the 1176 Symphonie "L" were available in A. Yours doesn't have a model name stamped on it though.

Quote from: Cass on February 05, 2026, 08:57:33 PMI have absolutely no frame of reference for bore sizes.  I am assuming (always bad, I know) that the bore size is the diameter of the hole that goes through the upper and lower joints.  that is what I was measuring.  if not correct, what is the bore?
...
I don't know the 424-444 reference.

No, you're right about what bore size is - you just provided surprising measurements.

The 444N was Conn's top-of-the-line wood clarinet in the 1930s and 1940s and was (in some circles, still is) prized for jazz playing on account of its extra-large bore. The 424N was a less-expensive variation introduced in the late 1930s with an even larger bore but some of the high-end features removed.

My 444N measures .600"/.590". Yours is similar at the top but wider at the center, so it has much less of a reverse taper. That could very well be a good-playing clarinet - Pan-Americans are, generally, "intermediate" in modern terms, but that distinction didn't quite exist then as we think of it now. Between the bore size and the materials, I wonder if the target market wasn't jazz saxophonists wanting a moderately-priced instrument for occasional doubling.

(Slight tangent: a "large" bore is generally considered to be .590" (15.00 mm) - instruments like the Selmer Balanced Tone, Leblanc Dynamic H/Pete Fountain, and Bundy Resonite. So over .600" (15.24 mm) is quite large indeed.)

Some larger pictures showing the keywork overall might shed some light on something - it might be possible to tell if the keywork design is shared with other models.

I believe you're right about the materials - they'll definitely feel different. If you look through the main joints in front of a light, you'll probably see the wood grain down the inside. Pan-American did make an all-plastic clarinet (with that same wire-brushed finish) in the late 1920s, but I don't think they made it for very long. In the 1930s, I've only ever seen all-wood, all-Ebonite, or wood with a brushed-finish plastic barrel and bell like yours.

There is stunningly little information out there about Pan-American clarinets. I've been studying Pan-American for some time and I wish I could say I had better news.

I can tell you that yours was certainly made in the 1930s, but beyond that, I don't have much. The Conn Loyalist has a list of Pan-Am clarinet models but there isn't enough detail to determine what's what. Going from that, yours could be a 70N, 78N, or something else entirely. I believe there are models missing from that list.

Do you have a dial caliper, bore gauge, or other instrument that could measure the bore diameter? My guess is that the 1930s wood Pan-Americans were 1920s Conn designs, but they're so uncommon that I've never had a wood one on my bench.

Quote from: Windsong on January 28, 2026, 12:34:11 PM*The only two differences I see are with the LH 5 C#/G# key, (and the slightly longer barrel---66mm, versus 63mm).  While post distance is the same and I believe the two keys would be interchangeable, I prefer the latter key as it allows for optimal clearance of the open C tonehole, and more accurate rapid actuation of the C#/G# key.   

I am curious to know if this key change took place in 1965, and stayed changed, or whether they may have been interchangeable and they flip-flopped from year to year.  (The bottom clarinet is the later model, with the preferred ergonomically sculpted key.)

I checked my inventory and pictures of past work. '50s models usually have a straight C#/G#, but I have a '58 with it curved. The '60s models I checked all had a curved one, but on a '63 Vito Reso II it's straight.

I checked some wood ones too: straight on an early Normandy and a Normandy 10 bought new in 1962, curved on a '65 Noblet 45.

The straight ones all give the C/G tonehole a bit more clearance than on yours - the arm is almost perpendicular to the body.

With the oddly-broad array of different model numbers Leblanc had for these (13, 14, 14S, 14V, 15, 16), that key might have been a point of differentiation for one or more of them, and settling for the less-ergonomic option is part of what saved a few dollars for the buyer. It is, of course, also possible that they were just using whatever key was in the bin, but over a several-year period I think they would've used up the straight ones much quicker if they'd been obsoleted.