Buffet Crampon RC Full Boehm Clarinet W/ Left Eb/Ab, Low Eb!
One of several professional clarinets we are offering for sale, and one of the rarest! This is a Buffet Crampon RC full-boehm clarinet in Bb. This includes a bunch of extra keys not found on most clarinets: articulated C#/G#, forked Eb mechanism (so you can play the forked Eb fingering,) alternate left Eb/Ab lever, extra C#/G# trill on the lower, and the low Eb clarinet which extends the range so you can often cover some A clarinet parts without having to purchase an entirely different clarinet. Only a few of these were made and nothing like it is available today except by special order. If it were an R13 from the Fischer era, they would have called it a “Buffet R16-¾.” The closest equivalent today would be the RC Prestige, which still does not have most of the extra keywork.
S/n F240XXX makes this a vintage 1983, and it looks hardly used at all: wood is a nice, heavy billet of aged grenadilla with a straight grain and small scratches and minor wear, but no chips, cracks or repairs. Tenons are square with no wobble between joints, and the middle tenon and socket are both metal lined (originally, not replaced) to prevent any real chance of cracks. Silver plated rather than nickel (a $671 upgrade if you could even get this clarinet today!) about 99.5% with little if any wear at all. Overhauled just prior to us acquiring it in high-quality, white kid leather pads. Further just through our shop in 2026 where it needed little other than bore oiling and some very minor adjustments. Plays very nicely in all registers with a big, dark tone, an open feel and a light touch—though the ergonomics of the extra keywork takes a bit to get used to.
Comes with a Buffet R13 650 barrel and a Buffet Prestige B 680 barrel. Cork grease and key oil are for local pickup only and will not be shipped, but it does include a new ProTec microfiber cloth and new SuperSlick chamois swab. All in a nice Opera case with two external zippered pockets and intergrated backpack straps.
An amazing, hard-to-find, super flexible clarinet that will give you bragging rights across the entire clarinet section, and in the best condition you could ever hope for!
