Klarinet Archive - Posting 000645.txt from 1999/02

From: "Kevin Fay (LCA)" <kevinfay@-----.com>
Subj: RE: [kl] Post-Factory adjustment
Date: Tue, 16 Feb 1999 17:53:33 -0500

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.<<

Yes indeed. And the reason that the factories don't spend the extra $300
per horn making them "just so" is that for the vast majority of people who
buy them, the "off the rack" condition is just fine. Any customer tweaking
beyond that is likely to be disliked as liked by any particular individual
player.

My wife plays (primarily) picc, flute, oboe & english horn. Those 4
instruments cost more than double what my 4 clarinets, 3 saxophones 1
trumpet and innumerable mouthpieces and gadgets cost. Consequently, when I
get a wandering eye for a shiny new tooter, I don't get beaten so hard.

Even cheaper are the trumpets. You can pay $12,000 for a Monette (but IMHO
that's silly); a good Bach or Besson/Kanstul will run you new about
$1100-1200 street price. (Of course, if you're an orchestral player, you
need to own about 11 of them in various keys.)

The real deal is trombone--you buy a Bach 42 and you're pretty much done.
Instead of buying a continuous stream of accessories, reeds, ligatures, yada
yada yada you buy . . . grease.

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