Klarinet Archive - Posting 000780.txt from 1998/02

From: Bill Hausmann <bhausman@-----.com>
Subj: Re: acoustics/rare woods/K.Harby
Date: Fri, 20 Feb 1998 19:19:25 -0500

At 02:52 PM 2/20/98 PST, Kevin Fay wrote:
>Most of the perceived "quality" in the clarinet world is not much more
>than marketing hype anyway. It simply does not cost three times as much
>as much to make a Leblanc Opus as a Normandy--the reason it costs more
>is simply because we fools will pay it. The truth is that Leblanc
>intentionally makes the interior dimensions of the "intermediate"
>instrument inferior so that people will pay the higher price for the
>premium instrument. There is no reason why Leblanc can't set their
>machines a smidge different so that the cheaper horn (or even the
>plastic Vito) has the proper dimensions and scale.
>
Some years ago, it was said that the difference between a Cadillac and a
Chevrolet was about $300 in parts. Yes, people do pay for the prestige of
the name. The market will apparently bear a great deal of this. I am
idealist enough to hope that manufacturers don't deliberately mis-set
machinery to produce inferior products, but realist enough to believe that
some might be tempted to do so. I prefer to think they are merely
overcharging us for the premium instruments.

Bill Hausmann bhausman@-----.com
451 Old Orchard Drive http://www.concentric.net/~bhausman
Essexville, MI 48732 http://members.wbs.net/homepages/z/o/o/zoot14.html
ICQ UIN 4862265

If you have to mic a saxophone, the rest of the band is too loud.