Klarinet Archive - Posting 000275.txt from 1995/01

From: "Dan Leeson: LEESON@-----.EDU>
Subj: The advertising war goes on!
Date: Wed, 18 Jan 1995 18:42:31 -0500

I posted about two weeks ago on the LeBlanc catalog and the
textual hyperbole that they use to speak about their
instruments. (A posting by our friend from LeBlanc was
something of a mild rebuke, but I think he has lost his sense
of humor about tonal characteristics. Too bad.)

Today I received a Yamaha catalog and theirs goes to the other
extreme. To be fair, this is not a Yamaha catalog, it is from
The Woodwind and the Brasswind, but in the belief that they
only put out what Yamaha dictates, it is a fair guess that a
Yamaha catalog would say the same thing.

Here we have no ooze, no gushing about mature tone as
contrasted with youthful tone. It is all business, slam dunk!

YCL-20 Standard clarinet; key of Bb; polished bore; ABS resin
body, barrel, and bell; nickel-plated keys and bell ring; tapered
pivot screws; stainless steel spings; formed undercut tone holes;
4C mouthpiece; CLC-25BL case. List $510. Call for WW&BW
Price!

YCL-20CA Same as YCL-20, but with 1317 carry-all case. List
$576. Call for WW&BW Price!

It gets even less appetizing:

YCL-34 Standard wood clarinet; key of Bb; .579" bore;
grenadilla body, barrel, and bell; polished bore; nickel-plated
keys and rings; straigth pivot screws; stainless steel springs;
undercut tone holes; 4C mouthpice; 1315 case. List $830. Call
for ....

...

Down to the ne plus ulta of their clarinet family

YCL-72CS Professional clarinet; key of Bb; .577" polished bore;
selected grenadilla body, barrel, and bell; integral finger holes;
silver-plated keys, rings, cap, and ligature; tapered pivot
screws; special blue steel needle and flat springs; tapered
undercut tone holes; 2* hard rubber mouthpiece; CLC-72 case.
List $2,540. Call for ...

Their advertisement for the other clarinets (Eb, alto, bass) are
just as straight out, no goo writing.

YCL-622 Bass clarinet to low C; key of Bb; .929" bore; two-piece
grenadilla body; silver-plated bell, neck pipe, and keys;
alternate Ab/Eb lever; alternate low D lever; rollers on low D,
C#, and C; tapered blue steel needle and flat springs;
adjustable floor peg; 4C mouthpiece; CLC-622 case. List
$6320. Cal for ...

For me it is hard to say which is the more palatable add: those
that scream meaningless hype at me in unintelligable ways, or
those that engineer me into the corner.
====================================
Dan Leeson, Los Altos, California
(leeson@-----.edu)
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