Klarinet Archive - Posting 000563.txt from 1998/09

From: ROBERT ABRAHAM <rkabear@-----.net>
Subj: [kl] Warrantee?
Date: Thu, 17 Sep 1998 02:08:51 -0400

F. Kloc said:

I would like tell a little thing about new part, when a clarinet upper joint craks you can replace only the upper joint and match it with the rest of the instrument, you have to spent the time tunning and listenning the musician and do customize work, Then you put the serial number of your lower joint on the upper joint and you don't have to worry about unmatched serial number. I do that a lot, a the matter fact I did it on Mark Charette's son's Festival and I spend the time with him make sure every thing was working fine. (Snip)

M. Charette:

Francois Kloc will treat any of you as he treated me - I'm lucky enough to be within 3 1/2 hours driving time so I went there personally, but he also would have done the same fine work had I shipped it in (a Festival had an unrepairable crack in the upper joint. Francois matched, repadded, and fine-tuned the joint to the point where the clarinet sounded better than when it was new.) (Snip)

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All this is well and good, but for us that do not have a chance to be one of those people who can get that kind of personal attention in a timely manner, or even those who do, a full clarinet replacement in days is much preferable to a week, a month or more to be able to work into Mr. Kloc's schedule of travelling. I don't deny that Mr. Kloc is willing and able to do a great matching and/or repair on a clarinet. What I do think, is that if I had concerts and had to rent a horn I was not familiar with from a local shop to play (which would be around $100 for a minimum 1 month rental here in New York) so that all of these repairs/matchings could occur, I would have much rather paid the $99 and got a totally new clarinet overnight from F. Weiner with the no questions asked guarantee.

Just as an example...my Selmer Saxophone had defective laquer and needed to be refinished. The finish was gone on the palm keys after 3 weeks, and the keys were pitting. I was given NO replacement horn in the meantime, and the warrantee process to get it relaquered (which the laquer only took 3 days to refinish) took almost a month.

No ill will toward Mr. Kloc and all of the great repairmen/repairwomen out there. I just play too much to be out of a horn (especially a new one) because it will take a week or two to go the the process of the manufacturer's warrantee, getting the problem assessed, and getting it fixed/replaced & matched. This is MUCH more costly to me as a professional. Maybe others have a lot more time to kill without their instruments than I do.

(Mr.) Kelly Abraham
Woodwinds/Computer Geek
New York City

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