Klarinet Archive - Posting 000098.txt from 1999/08

From: "Edwin V. Lacy" <el2@-----.edu>
Subj: Re: [kl] Goodby to Manny's music store
Date: Wed, 4 Aug 1999 16:33:31 -0400

On Wed, 4 Aug 1999, Mitch Bassman wrote:

> 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 think we can get a better range of choices today than we ever could
before. (And I bought my first instrument in 1949.) I never visited such
stores as Manny's or Ponte's, but for most of us in the hinterlands, there
was never a store available that had a wide variety and choice of
professional-class instruments.

I have bought instruments for some of my students from the WW&BW. However,
I have never ordered one by telephone or mail. Rather, I would go there
and try several instruments. My most recent experience was buying a Fox
Renard bassoon for a student. They had five in stock, and gave me as much
time as I wanted to try all of them, exchange bocals, etc. There aren't
and never have been many places where you can do that.

When I buy a professional level instrument, the first step in the process
is to choose the dealer. For example, last fall, I bought a Fox 601
bassoon. I selected Jim Laslie in Indianapolis as the dealer. He seems
to have a sort of pipeline into the Fox factory. The people there think
Jim is the best repair person in the world for their instruments. When he
orders an instrument for one of his customers, he can call them, tell them
what he wants, then tell them which of their employees he wants to set up
the instrument. After he gets it, being a repair person, he does further
work on it. I went to his shop to pick up the bassoon and give it a good
tryout. If there is anything that he doesn't like, or that the customer
doesn't like, then he can change it. There are other excellent bassoon
dealers in the country, but I don't know of any who can give such
assurance that you will get an instrument which is set up to such high
standards.

Also, about two years ago, I bought a Yamaha Custom alto saxophone. There
are quite a number of places you can buy these instruments. I don't want
to give away any secrets which have been entrusted to me, but I happened
to know who had been the design consultant for Yamaha on the development
of these instruments, and I know the retail store with which he was
involved. I bought an instrument which had been personally selected by
the consultant, and I got it through a store which sells it at a price a
little lower than the WW&BW. This store is owned by a saxophonist, who
has some experienced saxophonists in his repair department. I'm convinced
that there was no better saxophone available in the country than the one I
bought.

If I were to buy a new, top-line clarinet now, I would contact one of the
dealers who advertises nationally, who has qualified clarinet service
people on his staff, and who has a good reputation as a distributor and as
an ethical business person. Then, I would go to that person's store and
play on instruments until I found the one I wanted.

The same thing is possible for flutes, oboes, etc. It's just a matter of
asking questions, finding out who the reputable dealers are, and which
ones have the best repair service and therefore do the best set-up on
instruments they sell.

I am fortunate in another way, in that I live in a community which has 4
or 5 music stores, and each one is excellent in certain ways and each has
found a certain niche in the local market which they can best satisfy. For
student line instruments and some other merchandise, I patronize the local
dealers as much as possible. There is one in particular which has been
serving the educational market in about a 75 mile radius for nearly 50
years. They handle good instruments, and have a fairly comprehensive
repair department. They also have fairly knowledgeable sales personnel,
people with music degrees and with various kinds of experience in the
music profession. Even so, none of their personnel can be expected to
know as much as I have been able to learn about the ins and outs of
professional quality double reed instruments. Just about an hour ago, I
had a call from a mother who told me that she had bought an oboe for her
daughter from this particular store, and that it was an "excellent quality
Selmer." Ouch! At some point someone (probably me) is going to have to
tell this mother and daughter the facts of life about brands of oboes.

Sorry this note has rambled so much. I guess the bottom line is, know
your brands of instruments, and know your dealers. If you do that, you
can be assured of getting top quality instruments at good prices. You
might have to make a long drive to get to the dealer, but where the
quality of the instrument is so critical for professionals and teachers,
it would be worth it to go to this much trouble.

Ed Lacy
el2@-----.edu

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