Buffet Crampon is a French manufacturer of wind instruments based in Mantes-la-Ville, France. The company is the market leader in the production of clarinets of the Boehm system. Buffet Crampon is the brand of choice for many professionals the world over.
Timeline
1825 – In the heart of Paris the French instrument maker Denis Buffet Auger sets up his workshop. He rapidly becomes well-known in the musical community by producing excellent 13-key clarinets.
1836 – Denis’ son, Jean-Louis Buffet, marries Zoe Crampon and together they create the famous Buffet Crampon brand name.
1844 – The logo used today is first created. It appears on all the instruments created by the company.
1850 – The Buffet Crampon workshops and factory in Mantes-la-Ville are established and the Buffet Crampon Boehm system clarinet is developed.
1866 -Buffet Crampon creates its first saxophones, 20 years after the invention of this instrument by Adolphe Sax.
1877 – Buffet Crampon acquires the Evette & Schaeffer Company and begin to use that name as their instrument brand. Also, in this year they obtain a patent for a mechanism to control an extra key on an extended saxophone bell, extending the lower range from B to B♭.
1889 – Buffet Crampon win several awards at the Universal Exposition in Paris.
1907 – Production is well established with Evette & Schaeffer producing 14 oboe models of various systems in Bb, C, Db and Eb, pastoral oboes in G and Ab, an oboe d’amore in A, musettes in Ab, 8 different cor anglais, 18 bassoon types in C, D, and E, simplified bassoons in F and G, as well as contrabassoons in wood and metal.
1918 – They begin marketing their premium line instruments under their own name, while marketing lower grade instruments variously under the Evette & Schaeffer and Evette brands.
1950 – The famous R13 clarinet is developed, an extremely popular professional-level clarinet. The company also begin production of the Dynaction model saxophones, which would evolve into the Super Dynaction and the highly regarded S series models.
1975 – The year was marked by the arrival of the RC clarinet, which bore the initials of its designer, Robert Carrée.
1981 – Buffet Crampon becomes a member of the famous Boosey & Hawkes group of London.
1994 – The Green LinE Series is created. This series comprises of instruments made from a composite of reconstituted ebony that keep 100% of the acoustic properties and provides reliability and longevity for the instruments.
2004 – The professional clarinets referred to as TOSCA, a development of the R13 family, are devised by Michel Arrignon and perfected in cooperation with the best-known musicians of the time.
2005 – Buffet Crampon Group is created and the company leaves the Boosey and Hawkes group.
2006 – The Buffet Crampon Group acquire two famous brass instrument brands: Antoine Courtois Paris and Besson.
2008 – The acquisition of a historical factory manufacturing clarinets located in la Couture Boussey enabled the company to expand Buffet Crampon’s production and to launch a new high-end student clarinet, the E11 France.
2010 -The company continues to expand. Their facilities in Markneukirchen Germany develop new models of student oboe and clarinet. This year also saw the entry into the group of two new brands: Wenzel Schreiber (clarinets and bassoons) and Julius Keilwerth (saxophones).
2012 – In collaboration with internationally renowned clarinettists, Paul Meyer worked on a research and development project resulting in the Divine clarinet. The Buffet Crampon Group works with soloists from the greatest international orchestras to create Orfeo, the new oboe in Green LinE.
2013 – Senzo, destined to be the new standard in professional alto saxophones, is a needed step forwards in the revival of Buffet Crampon saxophones.
2015 -The Buffet Group founds a subsidiary in China, the Buffet Crampon Manufacturing Musical Instruments Co. LTD.
2019 – They acquire the French oboe manufacturer Rigoutat, Paris.
2020 – A new showroom in Beijing opens and a facility near Shanghai is established with an annual capacity of 50,000 instruments.
2021 – The BCXXI model is released, an instrument that can trace its design origins back to the work of Louis-Auguste Buffet but featuring new innovations that continue the Buffet Crampon philosophy of continual development and improvement.
Buffet Crampon at Ackerman Music
At Ackerman music we stock a comprehensive range of Buffet Crampon instruments and with our long-established set up and repair department we’re the perfect place to buy your Buffet Crampon instrument.
All instruments that we sell through the shops or online are thoroughly checked and regulated before being sold. We like to ensure that an instrument will fit together and play just right so you can enjoy it at its best. We ensure the instrument will play perfectly when you receive it from us.
