Klarinet Archive - Posting 000635.txt from 1999/02

From: Ken Wolman <Ken.Wolman@-----.com>
Subj: Re: [kl] Post-Factory adjustment
Date: Tue, 16 Feb 1999 17:53:23 -0500

rbushidioglot@-----.net wrote:
>
> HatNYC62@-----.com wrote:

> > This is just nonesense. Professional clarinets ARE cheap. VERY CHEAP. Compared
> > to a handmade flute for $6,000+ (for which you may have to wait several years)
> > or a $12,000+ bassoon, we have a great deal.

> I just upgraded my plastic Fox bassoon with two of their new Double Star
> bocals---$1,000 worth of bocals. And when you say $12,000+ for a
> bassoon, you are being very conservative. $12,000 to $20,000 would
> present a more realistic picture to the clarinet players of the world.

Yes, people ask about the price for pro clarinet X or Y and gulp. If
you can't afford it, you can't afford it, period. I would love to have
had the disposable income to spend five grand on a new Selmer bass
clarinet instead of $600 on a used Bundy (okay, it's got a Selmer logo
too:-). I could see myself calling my ex-wife: "Sorry, babe, that child
support and alimony's gonna be late for the next couple of months, I
just bought a bass clarinet." Right. That's why there's a good market
in intermediate horns and in used instruments: even though with a used
instrument, at some point you're going to start spending money on it to
get it back to original standard...or customization...or whatever.
Caveat emptor after you trust the word of the seller that the thing is
at least playable.

My sticker shock was asking out of curiosity in a repair shop in NYC how
much the man wanted for the used Selmer English horn. Not that I play
double-reeds, but for the right price I'd learn: the English horn
produces a sound directly from Heaven. Beautiful instrument, leather
pochette case in good shape, but all the same SOMEone had used it. The
answer: $2,200. Yes, used. Rhetorical question: what kind of clarinet
can you get NEW at street price for that kind of money?

Maybe the English horn came with 10 free lessons thrown in from Thomas
Stacy, but I doubt it.

Ken
--
Ken Wolman dbtrader Deutsche Bank, N.A.
1251 Sixth Avenue New York, NY 10019 212-469-6494

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