Klarinet Archive - Posting 000961.txt from 1998/09

From: "Edwin V. Lacy" <el2@-----.edu>
Subj: Re: [kl] The Best Clarinets
Date: Fri, 25 Sep 1998 14:29:40 -0400

> On Fri, 25 Sep 1998, Marcia S. Bundi wrote, re: Jupiter instruments:
>
> > So, is this the Craftsman of the music world?

Oh, wait a minute, now I get it! You meant "Silvertone," not "Craftsman,"
right? This was the stencil name for musical instruments sold by Sears.
And, if you are saying they were low quality, I would certainly have to
agree. They were bought from whomever and whevever they could be found.
In the case of the big manufacturers like Conn and Selmer, instruments
which did not pass their inspection for quality standards were often
"brokered" and sold at deep discounts. Many of these wound up in Sears'
hands and were stamped "Silvertone." I have seen Silvertone trumpets
where one of the valves was a half-inch longer than the other two, and
clarinets with keys made of pot metal. One little bend, and they broke in
two.

OK, take your shots at Silvertone. I have to agree.

Ed Lacy
el2@-----.edu

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