Get the best possible version of the instrument you’re investing in — not what comes off the warehouse shelf.
Every instrument ships performance-ready. Professional models are fully optimized by our team. Student models are professionally set up and adjusted before they leave the shop.
When a clarinet ships straight from the factory, the pads, bumpers, and key adjustments are configured for broad consistency rather than premium performance. It’s functional, but not ideal.
Those several hundred dollars “saved” at checkout cost talented players in lost auditions, repair shop charges, and practice sessions that feel like a grind.
Before the optimization begins, our team of symphony clarinetists play-test a large number of Buffet instruments and select only the ones with a rich, resonant tone, even response, and a sweet core.
Those chosen get stripped to wood and metal and are rebuilt over 9 hours with premium pads, bumpers, detailed keywork and more. The result is the best possible version of the instrument—what we call “performance ready.”
Most retailers ship what the factory sends. We start with a symphonic professional evaluating each clarinet individually.
After optimization, the key action is smoother, the tone is richer, and the response is even from the bottom of the range to the top.
We replace factory-default materials with custom leather and high-end synthetics that seal more cleanly, resonate better, and last much longer.
Buying a clarinet at this level can feel overwhelming—especially if you’re navigating technical jargon, conflicting reviews, and four-figure price tags. Alcides and Heather Rodriguez started RMS to make that process straightforward and the outcome reliable.
Alcides is a clarinetist in the Atlanta Symphony and a Buffet Crampon and Vandoren performing artist. He hand-selects and oversees the optimization of every instrument RMS sells. Heather works directly with each customer to match the right clarinet to the player’s level, goals, and budget. Between them, they’ve guided hundreds of players through this exact decision.
The RMS Artist Overhaul is a complete rebuild of your existing instrument. Over 10 hours of hands-on work, we strip it down to wood and metal, replace factory components with custom leather pads and premium bumpers, then recalibrate every spring tension and key fitting. It’s the same process we apply to every new Buffet we sell, available for the clarinet you already own. Ship your instrument to us from anywhere in the country.
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Every Buffet clarinet we sell has been hand-selected from a larger batch by a working symphony professional and then fully optimized over 9 hours. That means new custom leather pads, premium bumpers, recalibrated spring tensions, and meticulously adjusted key work—all before the instrument ships. Big-box retailers sell factory-direct instruments with little to no post-factory preparation. The price difference covers the optimization that makes the instrument performance-ready from day one.
Yes. We offer financing through Synchrony and United Midwest Savings Bank. You can find application links on our financing page.
