| Brought to you this hour by |  | Advertising and Web Hosting on Woodwind.Org! |
Klarinet Archive - Posting 000096.txt from 1999/08
From: Mitch Bassman <mbassman@-----.com>
Subj: Re: [kl] Goodby to Manny's music store
Date: Wed, 4 Aug 1999 16:00:30 -0400
Dan Leeson's announcement that Sam Ash has bought Manny's is sad news
indeed. My R-13 A clarinet came from Manny's in 1969; my R-13 B-flat came
from the former Ponte's in 1967. (As an aside, neither 30-year-old
instrument seems to be "blown out." I played them both in a concert last
weekend and was complimented on my playing by someone who knows clarinet
sound and never gives out compliments without meaning them.) Ponte's is
long gone, and the demise of Manny's, though sad, is just a sign of the
times and, in my recently-formed opinion, not a serious loss for wind
musicians. I had a surprise experience there early in June of this year
when I formed that opinion.
I was visiting in NYC a couple of months ago. Given that I was in the
market for a soprano saxophone, I headed for 48th Street and walked first
into Manny's. I spent most of an entire afternoon trying over a dozen new
and used soprano saxes in several shops, but I was determined to try
Manny's first.
Anyway, the surprise was that Manny's (the source of my Buffet A clarinet
three decades earlier) was a disappointment; it's no longer the Manny's of
the 1960s. They had exactly two soprano saxes in the shop; that is, the
trumpet player who was selling woodwinds that day knew of only two. One was
a used off-brand student instrument that I ignored; the other (as I recall)
was a "new" Yamaha professional model YSS-675. It was "new" in the sense
that it had never been sold; but it was well-used by people trying it, and
it had visible wear. I tested it thoroughly (standing next to the counter)
with no help from the trumpet player -- except that he did lend me the
(new) mouthpiece of my choice and gave me a couple of new Vandoren reeds
out of a new box when he couldn't find any soprano reeds in their drawer of
tester reeds. The instrument actually played quite well -- in tune top to
bottom with pretty good response. He offered the sax at a price I knew to
be comparable to the current Woodwind and Brasswind listing for a new one.
He said it was priced low, because it was old stock and they wanted to sell
it so they could order new stock, which would be priced higher. (Hmmm.) I
declined to buy it on the spot but promised to come back if I changed my mind.
Across the street at Sam Ash, I had a different experience.
At 10:02 AM 08/04/1999 -0400, Ken Wolman wrote:
>For what it's worth, the Ash salespeople DO seem a bit better than they
>used to be; at least they appear to have gotten rid of the one woodwind
>salesman whose snotty attitude was matched only by his lack of
>knowledge.
The young guy at the woodwind counter turned out to be a tenor sax player.
When I asked some specific questions about sopranos, he admitted that he
didn't know much about sopranos; it's a good think I wasn't looking at
clarinets. Nevertheless, he had every model of Yamaha and Selmer soprano
sax in stock -- new ones and several of each. He even had a few used
sopranos, including a gorgeous, but overpriced, Mark VI. On the other hand,
he would not *give* me any reeds, but he offered to *sell* me a basic Rico
for list price. I finally shamed him into giving me a couple of Rico reeds
for testing purposes. (I still had the two Vandorens that the trumpet
player in Manny's had provided and a Hemke that I had been given somewhere
else.)
He put me in an acoustically excellent instrument test room with four new
saxes (Selmer and Yamaha). After a delightfully long period playing various
intermediate and professional models, I asked for a few others. When I
complained about the response on a particular instrument, he opened a new
one and brought it in for me!
Ken added:
>Yes, you can get good deals at Ash but you have to know what you want
>when you walk in. It is not a place for the naive or
>faint-of-saying-Don't bullshit me, please. And bring your own
>mouthpiece.
Yes, I knew what I wanted. Yes, there was a slight bit of bull during the
final attempt to sell to someone who was still trying different models of
different instruments. And he let me use any of the mouthpieces that were
in the various cases of the saxes he brought me for testing. The hard sell
turned me off though. When I had had my fill at this shop, he tried hard
not to let me leave without buying an instrument. (Admittedly, this is a
reasonable approach for a retail business.) He offered me the new YSS-675
that I had just tested for $50 less than Manny's wanted for the well-tested
one across the street (about $50 less that the WW&BW price also). (I told
him Manny's price to see if he'd beat it; he did.) But he emphasized that
the price might not be good the next day or even by the time I got back
after trying more instruments elsewhere, because this specific instrument
might already be sold. This "negotiation" period included his furtive
glances toward his manager leaning on a counter on the other side of the
room. There was something about the approach that turned me off. Besides, I
wasn't ready to make a commitment and I wanted to try a few other used
saxes first at other places. On the other hand I had a decent price option
for a decent instrument, a much more knowledgeable salesman than I had
experienced at Manny's; and a much better selection of instruments in
better condition.
That's the bottom line. Manny's old style of doing business is, sadly, not
today's style. I, too, miss the type of personal care that one used to get.
Maybe mail-order (or email-order) has become the norm for buying
professional woodwind instruments today. I submit that the same is true in
other retail businesses. Today's clothing stores are far different from the
high quality store that my parents owned and operated before they retired.
My grandfather started the successful business as a new immigrant early in
this century; my parents closed it, emotionally, when they retired and
neither of their sons wanted to become a retail merchant. I suspect
something similar occurred at Manny's and Ponte's.
Sigh,
Mitch Bassman
Burke, Virginia, USA
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Unsubscribe from Klarinet, e-mail: klarinet-unsubscribe@-----.org
Subscribe to the Digest: klarinet-digest-subscribe@-----.org
Additional commands: klarinet-help@-----.org
Other problems: klarinet-owner@-----.org
