Klarinet Archive - Posting 000228.txt from 1994/12

From: Cary Karp <ck@-----.SE>
Subj: Re: David Long's comments on reeds
Date: Mon, 12 Dec 1994 04:32:00 -0500

On Sun, 11 Dec 1994, Dan Leeson wrote:

> On the other hand, when I lived in France I often went to Van Doren on
> Rue LePic and bought reeds. Never once did I hear of this practice. I
> just got reeds like everyone else in a purple box that was sealed. I
> was given no opportunity to try any out, nor did I hear anyone trying
> out reeds, though this may have happened when I was not there.
>
> Bottom line is that my experience with Van Doren (experience of 20
> years ago, to be sure) does not agree with David's description. Frankly,
> I find it difficult to believe, but does anyone else on the board think
> or better KNOW that this is going on?

I was in their shop a few months ago. They keep unboxed reeds in
plastic bins behind the counter and will let you test them prior to
purchase. The bins are filled with the exact same reeds that get stuffed
into boxes -- nobody does any pretesting.

I don't know what their usual practice is with reeds that are tried and
rejected, but the ones that I said that I had played but didn't wan't
were discarded. (I was buying mouthpieces, not reeds, and had only been
given a small handful of reeds for the purpose.)

It should be noted that any music shop in Paris will knock 15% off
VanDoren's list prices, but their own shop won't. With this margin, plus
the cost savings of not packaging the bulk reeds, plus the fact that they
don't deal through any intermediaries, VanDoren is probably still making a
profit on its one "try before you buy" outlet.

Cary <Karp@-----.se>