Earlier this year, a principal clarinetist in a professional orchestra visited Buffet and selected a Festival clarinet himself. A player at that level knows exactly what he is listening for. He purchased the instrument through RMS, so Buffet shipped it to our workshop first, and it spent nine hours on our bench for the full optimization we give every new clarinet we sell before it went on to him.
His text message when it arrived: “The clarinet is in impeccable shape! Many thanks!!”
He had already chosen an excellent instrument with his own hands and ears. What surprised him was how much better it played after optimization.
Clarinet optimization is the complete nine-hour preparation of a new instrument. Every factory pad and bumper comes off, custom leather and premium synthetics go on in their place, spring tensions are recalibrated, and the keywork is regulated until the action is silent. A symphony professional play-tests the finished clarinet before it ships.
In plainer terms: we take the instrument apart until only wood and metal are left. The factory default materials, which are chosen for durability across thousands of instruments rather than for premium performance, are replaced with the best materials we have sourced. Custom leather pads seal more cleanly and resonate better. Premium bumpers keep the key action consistent for years instead of months.
Then comes the keywork. Every spring tension is set by hand and every key height is balanced so the instrument responds evenly from the bottom of the range to the top. We also make a handful of small modifications we do not publish. Players feel them the first time they pick up the instrument.
The final step belongs to Alcides Rodriguez, clarinetist in the Atlanta Symphony and a Backun and Vandoren performing artist. He play-tests every optimized instrument himself and makes the adjustments only a performer at his level can feel and correct.
Longtime customers know this work as a full upgrade, and many still ask for a fully upgraded clarinet. It is the same process, and optimization is simply the term we use for it now.
Factory assembly gets a clarinet to roughly 80% of what it is capable of. The remaining 20%, evenness of response, smoothness of the key action, richness of tone across every register, requires individual attention that mass production cannot provide. We do that work in the shop before the clarinet ships to you.
This is not a criticism of the manufacturer. Buffet Crampon builds the finest clarinets in the world, which is why they are the standard in orchestras and competitive band programs. It is simply what mass production means. A factory assembling thousands of instruments configures pads, bumpers, and key adjustments for broad consistency. The factory cannot spend nine hours on your particular clarinet, and that is precisely the time each instrument receives on our bench.
Players feel the difference. The keywork is smoother and lighter under the fingers, the buttery action players describe when they pick up an optimized instrument for the first time.
The response is even across every register instead of fighting you in one and giving way in another. The tone gains resonance and projection, with a sweeter core.
Optimization is not a new idea. For decades, serious players have bought a new R13 and immediately shipped it to a specialist to be rebuilt before they would perform on it. Players of a certain generation called it getting the instrument “Brannonized,” after the Chicago technician Bill Brannon who did the work. The instinct was correct: a professional clarinet deserves individual attention before it goes on stage. The difference at RMS is that the work happens before the instrument ships, not after you find out something is missing.
The strongest evidence we can offer comes from the hardest audience: players qualified to select instruments at Buffet themselves.
Recently, a clarinet professor at a major university visited Buffet and selected a set of Tosca clarinets, the top of the professional line. He purchased them through RMS, and both instruments received the full optimization before they shipped back to him. When the Bb clarinet arrived, he wrote:
“My Bb clarinet sounds spectacular and feels absolutely fantastic. I am so excited about it. The work you all did was great!”
And when the A clarinet followed:
“Just wanted to let you know both clarinets are fantastic and so much fun to play. They came out great and I really appreciate your work to making sure I got a great instrument and that your technicians did such a great job to make them even better.”
A professor hand-picked the best instruments he could find, on premium models, and the optimization still made them better. That is the 20% that only comes from hand work on one instrument at a time.
We only sell fully optimized clarinets, so customers never see the before and after side by side. We sometimes joke that we should keep one raw instrument in the shop just so players can hear the difference for themselves. Every Buffet we sell gets the full treatment, including the in-stock instruments ready to ship from our shop, and every trial instrument arrives at your door already optimized.
The same standard is available for the instrument in your case right now. The RMS Artist Overhaul is a complete ten-hour rebuild of your existing clarinet, whatever the brand and wherever you bought it, using the same premium materials and the same final play-test. Players ship us instruments from across the country for it.
The full optimization takes nine hours of bench work per instrument. Every clarinet listed in our shop has already been through it, so in-stock instruments ship performance ready. Trial instruments are optimized before they are sent as well. Nothing leaves the workshop raw.
The nine-hour optimization is for Buffet Crampon instruments. Backun clarinets arrive needing less work, so our team meticulously adjusts each one in the shop instead. Both lines are professionally prepared and play-tested before they ship.
Big-box retailers ship whatever the factory sends. Every Buffet we sell has been hand-selected from a larger batch by working symphony clarinetists, then fully optimized over nine hours: custom leather pads, premium bumpers, recalibrated springs, regulated keywork. The price difference is the optimization, and it is why the instrument plays beautifully from day one.
At RMS, professional Buffet clarinets generally run from about $4,000 for a Gala to roughly $11,000 for a Tosca Bb clarinet. Prices vary by model and change from time to time, so the shop carries current figures. Each instrument has been hand selected from a larger batch by working symphony clarinetists and fully optimized over nine hours, so it arrives performance ready rather than in factory condition.
Yes. The RMS Artist Overhaul is a complete rebuild of an instrument you already own, whatever the brand and wherever you purchased it. It uses the same premium materials and the same symphony play-test as our new-instrument optimization. Visit our overhaul page for details and pricing.
If you are investing in a new clarinet at the professional level, the model is only half the decision. The other half is what condition that instrument will be in when it reaches you. A fully optimized clarinet gives you an edge from the first note, so you can stop thinking about your equipment and focus on the music.
Every musician deserves to perform without limits.
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