doublerdad
01-08-2004, 09:17 AM
Hello. I'm new here. First, I've been reading this forum for awhile, and I'd like to thank everyone who posts here. Your comments have been extremely helpful.
I haven't been 100% pleased with my Yani 990 Alto for awhile, and haven't wanted to spend the money on a new or used Selmer, so considered the Buffet as an alternative. I found an S1 on EBay recently that I bought for $1000. Cheap. I'm a professional player, a doubler, but my primary instrument is clarinet, so of course I've known about Buffet for 30 years.
The S1 Alto I purchased was made in about 1981. It arrived in real good shape. My repairperson has experience working on these, and he changed a couple of pads (LH palm keys needed it most) and adjusted some key heights. This helped the evenness of the horn a lot. However, it still has some "quirky" spots, and a little bit of uneven resistance.
However, the overall sound is simply wonderful. It has that "French" sax sound, like the Selmer, that you simply don't find on the Yani and the Yamaha. It's not as free-blowing as a Selmer, or a Japanese horn, but as a clarinet player, the resistance feels real comfortable to me.
As per intonation: It's got the "A" in the Serial Number, but it still plays considerably higher than a more modern horn. It plays nicely in tune with itself, and at around 440, if the mouthpiece is pulled out considerably farther than usual. It looks odd, but it works. This actually makes the middle "B", "C" and "C#" a tiny bit low, but this is easily compensated for on sustained notes with the RH palm keys. The intonation above high "C" is flawless...much better than any other alto I've tried. Altissimo is good, it responds well, but isn't as loud as my Yani.
Action is fine...nice fast table, and comfortable hand position. A previous owner added palm key risers which fit my hand real well. I'd recommend these. I really the LH pinky mechanism. Makes the extreme low notes easy. I'm still getting accustomed to the RH C/Eb rocker. Eachof these notes speaks easily and comfortably, but I'm finding the slide between them awkward.
It's got plenty of power. With the extra resistance, I can understand the rep this has as a "classical" horn, but I'm currently playing lead alto on the show "Dreamgirls", and with my customized Meyer 6 (baffle added) I can blow the roof off the place with this horn. Probably because I'm so used to clarinet, I feel comfortable using just tons of air, and this horn will take it and not distort. Dynamic range is excellent. It holds it's center real well in soft dynamics, except for the very middle of the horn which tends to be a little unfocused in "p" and softer. I think working with reeds will fix this.
The more I play it, the more I'm getting accustomed to the little idiosyncracies of this horn, and the better I like it. At 1/4-1/3 the price of a new or used Selmer, these Buffets have got to be the best bargains around. I don't think this would be a good choice for a beginner. But if you're an experienced player, want the "French" sound, and want to save just a ton of money, this is an excellent alternative to a new or used Selmer, or any of the Japanese altos.
I hope this helps. This forum helped me a lot, and again I appreciate it.
I haven't been 100% pleased with my Yani 990 Alto for awhile, and haven't wanted to spend the money on a new or used Selmer, so considered the Buffet as an alternative. I found an S1 on EBay recently that I bought for $1000. Cheap. I'm a professional player, a doubler, but my primary instrument is clarinet, so of course I've known about Buffet for 30 years.
The S1 Alto I purchased was made in about 1981. It arrived in real good shape. My repairperson has experience working on these, and he changed a couple of pads (LH palm keys needed it most) and adjusted some key heights. This helped the evenness of the horn a lot. However, it still has some "quirky" spots, and a little bit of uneven resistance.
However, the overall sound is simply wonderful. It has that "French" sax sound, like the Selmer, that you simply don't find on the Yani and the Yamaha. It's not as free-blowing as a Selmer, or a Japanese horn, but as a clarinet player, the resistance feels real comfortable to me.
As per intonation: It's got the "A" in the Serial Number, but it still plays considerably higher than a more modern horn. It plays nicely in tune with itself, and at around 440, if the mouthpiece is pulled out considerably farther than usual. It looks odd, but it works. This actually makes the middle "B", "C" and "C#" a tiny bit low, but this is easily compensated for on sustained notes with the RH palm keys. The intonation above high "C" is flawless...much better than any other alto I've tried. Altissimo is good, it responds well, but isn't as loud as my Yani.
Action is fine...nice fast table, and comfortable hand position. A previous owner added palm key risers which fit my hand real well. I'd recommend these. I really the LH pinky mechanism. Makes the extreme low notes easy. I'm still getting accustomed to the RH C/Eb rocker. Eachof these notes speaks easily and comfortably, but I'm finding the slide between them awkward.
It's got plenty of power. With the extra resistance, I can understand the rep this has as a "classical" horn, but I'm currently playing lead alto on the show "Dreamgirls", and with my customized Meyer 6 (baffle added) I can blow the roof off the place with this horn. Probably because I'm so used to clarinet, I feel comfortable using just tons of air, and this horn will take it and not distort. Dynamic range is excellent. It holds it's center real well in soft dynamics, except for the very middle of the horn which tends to be a little unfocused in "p" and softer. I think working with reeds will fix this.
The more I play it, the more I'm getting accustomed to the little idiosyncracies of this horn, and the better I like it. At 1/4-1/3 the price of a new or used Selmer, these Buffets have got to be the best bargains around. I don't think this would be a good choice for a beginner. But if you're an experienced player, want the "French" sound, and want to save just a ton of money, this is an excellent alternative to a new or used Selmer, or any of the Japanese altos.
I hope this helps. This forum helped me a lot, and again I appreciate it.