Klarinet Archive - Posting 000605.txt from 1996/01

From: Neil Leupold <nleupold@-----.EDU>
Subj: Re: Pricing Parity / R-13 vs. Green Line
Date: Sun, 28 Jan 1996 02:06:34 -0500

While my scenario may have seemed reasonable, I think (in retrospect)
that my logic may have been a little narrow. I suggested that over time,
the price of real wooden clarinets like the R-13 would surely rise with
the continued depletion of Mpingo wood. This is logical: supply &
demand. Unfortunately, I failed to carry this logic fully with respect
to the context and, therefore, Clark's closing question remains
particularly valid. We know that the Green line instrument is made from
residual shavings from the manufacture of R-13's. If the price of an
R-13 rises due to a scarcity of Mpingo wood, then it stands to good
reason that the *shavings too* will be considered equally as rare and
will effect a proportionate increase in the list price for a Green line
instrument.

What might tip the balance would be if Buffet began manufacturing more of
the Green line instruments than the R-13's. This would involve creating
these shavings as a *first step*, using them immediately to create the
composite material of which the Green line clarinets are made, rather
than consuming a substantially greater amount of Mpingo wood by
manufacturing an all-wood R-13 first. Obviously, a Green line instrument
is made of less Mpingo material than a full-fledged R-13, so making more
Green lines would serve to preserve what little Mpingo supply remains.
Therefore, the few R-13's being manufactured would, at that point, be
priced higher than the Green line instruments and people would buy more
of the latter.

My logic is probably even further flawed this time around, but I'm too
tired to notice it. Let me know. With all of the new R-13's I hear are
cracking these days, I'm coming around to the notion of trying a Green
line instrument as a backup in case the same unfortunate fate should
befall my beautiful Prestiges (especially my A).

Neil

On Sat, 27 Jan 1996, CLARK FOBES wrote:

> Neil brings up a possible reasonable scenario, however I just received
> my new price list from Buffet and both instruments are priced exactly
> the same $2880.
>
> Clark W Fobes
>
>
>
> Neil wrote:
> >
> >Clark ended his statement by asking the question, "At the same price,
> why
> >would some one buy this and not a wood clarinet?"
> >
> >That makes perfect sense to me in the present, as I too would rather
> play
> >on a real wooden clarinet instead of the synthetic Green line
> instrument.
> >Clark's question will probably answer itself over time, I imagine.
> Since
> >the Green line was created in anticipation of African Blackwood's very
> >possible endangerment, it stands to reason that brand new Buffet
> R-13's
> >(not to mention the Leblancs, Selmers, and Yamahas which are as well
> made
> >of African Blackwood) will rise in price when the availability of the
> >wood is substantially dimished enough to raise *its* price. If the
> Green
> >line holds at its current price in the face of the Mpingo tree's
> >sparsity, many more people will very likely opt to purchase the Green
> >line over the "real thing" precisely because the price disparity has
> >become so great. We've seen and heard enough testimonials on the
> subject
> >to believe that the Green line can indeed measure up to the standards
> of
> >the nation's professionals, so one's pocketbook will rule the decision
> as the
> >unfortunate "event horizon" draws near.
> >
> >Neil
> >
>

   
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