Klarinet Archive - Posting 000586.txt from 1997/01

From: Mark Charette <charette@-----.com>
Subj: Re: Wood /Plastic Clarinets-WHY?
Date: Mon, 27 Jan 1997 08:42:39 -0500

David C. Blumberg wrote:
>
> Not wanting to throw gas on a fire that doesn't exist yet, but:
> Why don't the big manufacturers copy the exact bore, tonehole placement,
> etc. ,etc. on the plastic clarinets, to make the perfect clarinet -IF, and
> only IF the tone is the same between wood, and plastic.

For the same reason the keywork isn't as good, I believe. Marketing.

Would you pay $900 for a plastic clarinet? If the market percieves wood
as being better, and the manufacturer can make a good profit on the
wood clarinet, why bother (as a manufacturer) so much with the plastic?
The Buffet Greenline is in a sense what I consider to be "plastic" (a
composite, actually), but there's no real price differential.
Aesthetically I like the wood better; therefore, given the same price
for a composite or wood clarinet, I'd choose wood. Give me a couple
of hundred dollars difference, the composite would win out handily.
--
Mark Charette Webmaster, http://sneezy.mika.com and maintainer of
Mika Systems, Inc the Clarinet Info Pages,
charette@-----.com/clarinet

   
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