Klarinet Archive - Posting 000384.txt from 1999/04

From: "Dee D. Hays" <deehays@-----.com>
Subj: Re: [kl] Re: Wood/plastic, etc...
Date: Tue, 6 Apr 1999 22:13:39 -0400

I apologize for going a little overboard there. The point that I was
attempting to get across was that using ground wood as a filler doesn't
change the fact that it is a composite. And it does what it is supposed to
and that is provide a crack resistent horn. However, in reading the catalog
descriptions, you can tell that the marketing boys had their innings on
writing the descriptions. They emphasize the wood portion and would appear
to be aimed at getting people to accept a composite as a material for a
professional horn (I am sincere in stating that I hope they succeed actually
as I would like to have the choice of a composite available in pro grade
instruments). There is no published data that shows that this version of
composite is more crack resistant than the standard ones used in the various
models of beginner instruments. So until I see such actual data (I too am
an engineer but not in materials science) there is no reason to think that
this composite is any better. The Buffet literature simply states that it
overcomes the cracking problem of wood but doesn't compare it to other
materials. That is why I refer to it as a marketing ploy. This doesn't
make it a bad thing. How else are new products and processes going to break
into the market and gain acceptance other than by clever marketing of their
advantages and overcoming consumer resistance?

Dee Hays
Canton, SD

-----Original Message-----
From: DGross1226@-----.com>
Date: Tuesday, April 06, 1999 4:34 PM
Subject: [kl] Re: Wood/plastic, etc...

>In a message dated 99-04-06 04:12:47 EDT, Dee Hays writes:
>
><< Thus using grenadilla wood sawdust as a filler instead of some other
>material is simply a marketing ploy to get people to accept plastic.>>
>
>Having been a materials engineer in a previous life, I would respectfully
>suggest that before making such unsubstantiated statements, one would at
>least spend some time reading in the various scientific and engineering
>journals about composite materials. While probably not the best examples,
>take a look at the various materials that have been developed for airframes
>or golf clubs or particle board or even bullet proof body armor for that
>matter. Our research group at Shell Development Company invested a lot of
>time and money developing materials from powdered metals to resist stress
>corrosion cracking which a major concern in Shell's refinery and chemical
>plants. In fact, the analogy is not too far removed from Buffet developing
>the Greenline instruments to resist cracking. I would also make sure that
I
>had visited the Buffet factory and actually observed the process by which
>Buffet makes its Greenline clarinets. There are still some companies which
>are not run by their marketing departments -- although they are getting
>fewer. Just listen to the White House press secretary and our Pentagon
>spokespersons.
>
>Don Gross
>La Canada, California
>
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