Klarinet Archive - Posting 000845.txt from 1999/05

From: Bill Hausmann <bhausman@-----.com>
Subj: RE: [kl] Moennig Adjusted Clarinets
Date: Tue, 18 May 1999 03:19:24 -0400

At 11:38 AM 5/17/99 -0700, Kevin Fay wrote:
>The Festival is, in essence, an R-13 that's "fixed." It costs a little
>more--but you get silver plating on the keys, a LH Eb lever and Gore-Tex
>pads. (Plus--don't forget that the tooling for the R-13 has likely been
>paid for many years ago; new models always cost more to make). I tried one
>a few weeks ago (and posted a review)--while I probably could not resist the
>urge to have my repair tech friend do a little adjusting for me at some
>point--I like my ring keys set high--it played pretty flawlessly out of the
>box (OK, case). Whoever is doing Buffet's QA is doing a heckuva job, IMHO.
>(I suspect this might be Mr. Kloc--if so, major kudos are in order).
>
Might be nice if they offered your choice at the SAME price. While I do
not know him beyond what he has posted on the list, I have high regard for
M. Kloc and his efforts. I have every reason to believe that his standards
are at least as high as mine, and if his efforts over the last couple of
years have had the effect you report, I salute him.

>Buffet still markets the R-13. Why? Easy--people buy them. In droves.
>Many, many, many people won't consider another model, even if "improved."
>Given that the R-13 is by far their most popular model, it would be business
>suicide for Buffet to discontinue it, so they offer both the "traditional"
>R-13 with the quirks that everyone is used to AND a variety of models that
>have the improvements you want. Consequently, one shouldn't lambaste them
>for marketing a horn you don't like when you have chosen the wrong model!
>
>From a pure business perspective, you are entirely correct. I guess it is
just the customer attitude that has me scratching my head. Why the
continuing march of the sheep to the R-13 when other better alternatives,
some from Buffet themselves, exist?

>A final point--as to why Buffet can't make it right, right out of the box.
>Every horn comes with a mouthpiece, that most people never use or even try.
>Given the VAST variety of mouthpieces that are available--not to mention
>reeds and, dare I say it, embouchures--it amazes me that more "customizing"
>isn't necessary. The interior dimensions of mouthpieces are nowhere close
>to being standard, and have a huge effect on the instrument's intonation and
>response. So Buffet does what it can to make it work OK for a
>middle-of-the-road setup--but Buffet can't control what it can't control,
>which in this case is your choice of mouthpiece, your reed and your face.
>In that scenario, an extra hundred bucks for a barrel (which is more of a
>"mouthpiece extension" than anything else) to compensate for your choice of
>mouthpiece doesn't seem all that much to me.
>
Oh, jeez! Do you mean I now have to turn my "wrath" toward the mouthpiece
makers, the REAL source of the trouble? :-)

Bill Hausmann bhausman@-----.com
451 Old Orchard Drive http://www.concentric.net/~bhausman
Essexville, MI 48732 http://members.wbs.net/homepages/z/o/o/zoot14.html
ICQ UIN 4862265

If you have to mic a saxophone, the rest of the band is too loud.

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