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Saxophones When is a Buffet not a Buffet ?

Buffet Crampon is a highly respected Clarinet maker who once upon a time actually made saxophones - I mean MADE them as opposed to sticking their name on whatever came along but that was decades ago and they`ve not made anything in house since the S series (unless that hi-end limited run horn made in the factory in France came off) ..

Soooo Buffet have stencilled their name (both Evette and just Buffet) on horns made from all over the place, the Evettes are the worst for this, they can range from really sad Eastern European clunkers, through Italian oddballs to Japanese Yani excellence I believe .. the horn of the review here lies in the middle and is in fact a Taiwanese made Jupiter with a couple of differences spec'd by Buffet , an intermediate JTS 789 it would seem

Buffet-Evette-TSax-4.JPG


Using Jupiter to make your horns in the 90s was a wise move because the Chinese were nothing like as good as they are now, eastern European horns (especially Cortons) were still using way outdated pinkie tables and the posh ones were no doubt cost inffective .. as Evettes were the Student models (or so I was lead to believe) , choosing an intermediate Jupiter raised the bar the marque somewhat - as did using the Yani 500 series (probably the best thing Buffet ever badged) ..

The original Jupe STS 787 tenor was based on the Selmer MkVII of all things (rather than the usual SA80) complete with very MkVII like key spacings (not the most popular) - the later JTS 789 (and JTS 787/789 labelled one) is very similar but Buffet have spec'd normal tables here , I can`t say if they`re SA80 ot Yani copies but they`re easier to reach than the MkVII ones on the 787 ..

Buffet-Evette-TSax-6.JPG


This horn also has the 3 point brace and blued steel springs showing its the JTS series 789 model and not the earlier STS series horn ........ the keywork on 90s Jupes is functional and quite fast, can be prone to wear and uses non adjustable bullet screws but even when rattling they do stay reliable , this example needed minor regulation only .. another thing this horn does`t suffer is the traditional Taiwan warbles (from research, early jupes, TJs and others were rather notorious for this)..

Soundwise , like all the Jupiter tenors I`ve played, it sounds lovely, it`s got that MkVII depth without lacking clarity thing going on - it also suffers typical MkVII ills such as stuffy mid D losing clarity at the top end , bell notes having a tendency to set off car alarms etc ;) , it`s not got that "Combine a MkVII with a Yamaha" spread a TJ RAW has but it`s far from stuffy though most of the range and better than a few real Selmers I could mention . Nope, I have no issues with the sound or the handling - the latter isn`t refined like a Yamaha or Yani but no worse than a thrashed Selmer or a few years old Mauriat etc .

the reason I`ve never kept a Jupiter Tenor, even as a backup is the tendency for them to octave and warble on certain notes (played loads ,they all did it, the G being the most common place they do it) , admittedly my MkVII did also , you get used to playing around these things but after a couple of years of Yamahas, Tolerance slips and so never kept any of them - this Version seems to have cured it, maybe the later Jupiter badged 789s do also ....... whatever , this is an excellent sounding horn with serviceable keywork which can be picked up cheap .......

thankfully unlike other Buffets, it`s OEM is easy to spot - the Jupiter bell brace, trills style and MkVII stack rod collector is a dead giveaway ..

Update ......... 14/06/15 ..

I`ve fully lubed and adjusted the action now and it`s feeling a hell of a lot smoother , I still need to do some corks, just odd ones here and there such as under the C trill and one of the palms / replace a couple of hardened ones etc which will finish it off nicely but it`s playing sweet now, Action is on reflection about TJ Revolution-II level which is pretty good (better than a Bauhaus Walstein TS-YD) ....

Another thing I`m appreciating is the lack of weight (or lack thereof) , even high end Jupiters of the time didn`t set the pillars on ribs so the horn is little if any heavier than the YTS-61 and likewise is easier on the neck than most .

Update ......... 30/06/15 ..

This has definitely settled in as my Band instrument, the tonal balance fits like a glove which the Yamahas (62-II, 32, 61) never really did (they`ve lamented the passing of the MkVII for nearly 2 years, far moreso than I have) , you can really growl into this thing with a 9 tip Mpc and no worries about it getting nicked or kicked, I feared for the "Silver-lady" 62-II`s fragile perfect finish and the 61`s ribless body and 2-point bell brace...
 
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I thought the senza was meant to be limited - anyway, it`s the first since the S1/2

As for those Italian ones - they`re Evette Schaeffers ,, a lot of Buffets bearing this name were JKs - the plain Evettes were a cheaper line and I was surprised to see an intermediate Jupiter carrying that name
 
As for those Italian ones - they`re Evette Schaeffers
if you read what he says on that website, there seem to have been some italian made DA and SDA copies, but it's not clear whether they were sold as Buffet saxes. It doesn't help that a lot of the links to pictures on that webpage no longer work due to the owner redesigning it. Here's the one's I can find - http://thesax.info/piwigo/index.php?/category/769
I've seen one or two Evette engraved saxes (without the Schaeffer) on ebay that looked like 60's/70's italian made instruments. I've not seen any pictures of a Keilwerth made Evettes, but that murky period when Keilwerth and Buffet were part of the Boosey & Hawkes empire isn't something I know much about. The S2 seems to have been largely built by JK

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I`ve seen Italian made non Schaeffers too - looked like dodgy Orsis to me , I think David dug one up from a Cashconverters once (didn`t buy it , neither did any of us) . I`ve seen Keilwerth Schaeffers but not plain evettes -
The best plain Evettes I`ve seen are this Jupiter 7 series Tenor and the lucrative Yani 500 (which have been Altos, not seen a Tenor) ....

I didn`t realise the S2 was mostly Keilwerth - that makes the S1 the last true buffet, prior to the Senza then .
 
Back to this Variant ....
(Originally posted to Aldevis in the comments section but wanted to repeat here and elaborate on)

Buffets launched after the SDA are a minefield of globally made and always confusing models of varying quality, an "Evette" can be almost anything from trash to treasure and unfortunately , usually at the trash end of things.. it`s nice to be able to nail down a more common version which is not only well worth owning but worth looking out for due to costing less than the OEM branded version of the same horn

I`d have no issue using this Jupiter "Evette" as an only horn - lets face it, the sound is close to the MkVII I had , it plays a lot better (due to excessive wear on the Selmer) and you can even buy bits off the shelf for it from Dawkes - LOL ..

Beats a Bauhaus TS-PD overall and especially on sound & character, kills the Elkhart Series-II (even early Taiwan ones) and TJ Classics and is up to TJ Revolution quality overall .......

I`ve not played an Elkhart Deluxe Tenor but if the Alto is anything to go by , this Jupe-Evette is NOT up to that standard regarding build or keywork (which I`d guess is down to Age difference, they`re a lot newer than this) - I`d like to try an Elkhart Dlx or Sakkusu Tick Tenor some time and see if its as good as the Alto and Sop .
 
Difference is that the first one is far Eastern, the second German. The Dynaction/SDA models were, at least in part, from Santoni in Italy.
 
I didn`t realise the S2 was mostly Keilwerth - that makes the S1 the last true buffet, prior to the Senza then
there's some debate about this, so it'd be wise to do some research before coming to a definite opinion - it may be that earlier S series were made by Buffet and the Keilwerth element only came in later
this one's Keilwerth - Bluespeter1 Saxophone Ladbergen - Alt Saxophone Seite IV
this one looks more Buffet - http://www.getasax.com/product_info.php?products_id=414
the copper Prestige - http://www.getasax.com/product_info.php?products_id=301
 
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I believe the S3 Prestige was the last real Buffet?
 
The S2 seems to have been largely built by JK.

I think you are confusing the S2 with the Buffet Crampon "Expression" which was a stencil of a Keilwerth SX90.

I have tenor and alto S2 saxes and they are pure Buffet Crampon. I also have an article about them from the CASS journal - they were a short-lived professional model available at the same time as the S1 and aimed more at the jazz and popular music market.

I also have a Buffet Crampon alto that is identical to the "Expression", but not marked with the "Expression" name. It is definitely made by Keilwerth, presumably at the time when Boosey & Hawkes owned both Buffet and Keilwerth.

Rhys
 
Back to the OP Horn - I`ve done an update after lube and adjustment .......
 
Couple more pics of the Horn .........

The Bell Emblem

Buffet-Evette-TSax-3.JPG


And the Serial number with the Tell Tale ROC (Taiwan) underneath



Buffet-Evette-TSax-S.JPG
 
The De-VII'`d LH table and the 3 point bell brace showing it to be from Jupiters JTS era rather than the older STS era

Buffet-Evette-TSax-5.JPG
 
Buffet is one of the brand which started having things made for them ( As early as the 19th century) from others very early on. This is true of flutes, clarinets and saxophones. They have bought from whomever was cheap and available to them. Since integrating Schreiber as a part of the Keilwerth group they went back to the company who had been providing all the “ made in Germany” clarinets they ever sold under their name (for example)
They are currently selling Chinese saxophones too ( series 100 and 400)
 
I didn`t know that any early saxes were outsourced (1800s to 1930s) , I thought it started post war and only for the cheaper horns, then for all after the S1/2 era ......

as for clarinets, the Booseys provided the B12 design, the Evettes and even higher end models .
 
Buffet was one of the first truly large companies and they started outsourcing left center and right. Their history starts in 1825 but the company really came into its own from 1850 onwards.

As it stands, the new investing company Capital’s investment, which has taken over the Buffet group, is the largest European concern in the music business.
 
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