Why is this important? High pitch horns do not play in tune with modern horns and it is almost physically impossible to adjust down the 1/4-step-plus to A=440hz.Īdditionally, the modern Buffet company insists that all of their horns from 1866 on were also available as A=442hz horns. Buffets around this time are stamped 'LP' or 'HP' - 'HP' being 'high pitch': an American standard where A=457hz. By 1914, the new international standard pitch of A=440hz ('low pitch') was introduced. When Buffet's first sax was introduced, it was probably a A=435hz horn, which was the French standard of the time. I will discuss this next series on a different page.Ī good thing to note: France had several different pitch standards in the 19th century. While the first two series of Buffet horns are essentially Sax copies, the third series is shockingly different and introduces many interesting changes thoughout its long history. Well, in any event, there were no significant changes in their saxophone design, but it does appear that 1871 is the first year that the 'Buffet-Crampon, Cie.' logo was used :). The logo used today first appeared in 1844. He married Zoe Crampon in 1836 and so the famous Buffet Crampon brand name was created.

In 1830 Denis's son, Jean-Louis, took over the business. According to the Buffet website, however: Buffet, however, instead of 'reinventing the wheel', is extremely faithful to Sax's original design - primarily because Buffet was a Sax licensee.Īccording to my documentation, Jean Crampon joined the company in 1871, thus these are the first 'Buffet-Crampon, Cie.' horns ('Cie.' essentially means 'company'). In 1866 Adolphe Sax's patent expired and a bunch of instrument makers, including Buffet, jumped on the Sax bandwagon and tried to 'improve' upon the saxophone design.

Buffet e11 clarinet serial numbers