Buffet Crampon’s RC-bore professional Bb clarinet in Prestige configuration. Warm, full and dark sound with unstained heartwood body. Fully optimized over 9 hours with custom leather pads by Rodriguez Musical Services.
$9,786.00
The Buffet Crampon RC Prestige Bb Clarinet uses a fundamentally different bore geometry from the R13 family. The RC pairs a polycylindrical upper joint with a conical lower joint and bell. The result is a warmer, richer, rounder tone with a denser core and a three-dimensional quality that players frequently describe as “covered.” Players looking for a clarinet that blends effortlessly inside an orchestral section while still projecting when called upon will find the RC Prestige delivers both.
The RC Prestige Bb is built from unstained heartwood grenadilla (the densest, most resonant portion of the tree) and features metal-capped tenons and the left-hand Eb/Ab auxiliary lever as standard equipment. The Prestige designation reflects Buffet’s highest tier of wood selection and craftsmanship within the RC family.
Every RC Prestige that Rodriguez Musical Services sells has been hand-selected by our performing clarinetists. We play-test numerous factory instruments to identify the clarinets with a rich, resonant tone, a sweet core (one that ‘sings’), evenness of scale and resistance, a sound that exhibits a large spectrum of colors, and the most consistent intonation.
Each selected RC Prestige then goes through the RMS 9-Hour Optimization. The instrument is completely disassembled, and every pad, bumper, and cork is removed until only grenadilla wood and metal remain. Custom leather pads replace the factory originals. Springs are adjusted, key heights are calibrated, and the entire mechanism is regulated so that the action feels effortless and the response is even across every register and dynamic level.
The result is what we call “performance ready”: smooth key action, rich and resonant tone, and consistent response from the bottom of the chalumeau through the top of the altissimo.
Working orchestral professionals, university faculty, and advanced students exploring the RC bore family will find the RC Prestige Bb a refined and expressive instrument. Historically, the RC bore has been more popular among European players, while most U.S. players have gravitated toward R13 bore family.
| Body | Unstained heartwood African blackwood (grenadilla) |
| Bore | RC (polycylindrical upper, conical lower) |
| Keys | Silver-plated |
| Features | Metal-capped tenons, left-hand Eb/Ab auxiliary lever |
| Pads | Custom leather (RMS-installed) |
| Springs | Blue steel |
| Includes | Original Buffet Crampon case, RMS certificate of optimization |
Contact for availability. Trial eligible; request a trial to compare two hand-selected instruments in your home for 5 days.
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