Klarinet Archive - Posting 000406.txt from 1999/11

From: Bill Hausmann <bhausman@-----.com>
Subj: Re: [kl] subject: [kl] Plastic Horns
Date: Thu, 11 Nov 1999 07:47:19 -0500

At 10:50 PM 11/10/1999 -0600, Ed Lacy wrote:
>On Wed, 10 Nov 1999, Bill Hausmann wrote:
>
>> The major companies are not going to destroy their reputations with
>> inferior products like that (UMI and their Artley clarinets excepted).
>
>I wish I were as confident of this. There are already plenty of examples
>of companies destroying their reputations by trying to save a few pennies
>here and there, doing so by cost-cutting measures of varying degrees of
>intelligence or stupidity, and in the process reducing the quality of the
>product to the extent that they ultimately destroy their former
>reputation.
>
>For example, think of the move by Conn from Elkhart, Indiana to
>Nogales, Mexico. In Elkhart, there was a cadre of experienced and expert
>workers. The move was made in an attempt to have the instruments built by
>workers who they could hire for a fraction of what they paid to American
>workers. The result? The quality of their instruments went so far down
>that they became a laughing stock among musicians, their potential
>purchasers. This move had nothing to do with a desire to provide a better
>quality product. It was clearly an attempt to improve the profit margin.
>In other words, it was driven by the dollar - or some might say, by greed.
>
I guess I am hoping that they learned their lesson from this little
experiment. Conn had been one of the finest names in saxophones, and they
blew that all to heck.

>Consider also the fact that Selmer no longer markets instruments under the
>Bundy name. They are now called "Selmer model 100" or something similar.
>Bundy had become associated in the minds of so many musicians with
>inferior quality and poor value that they felt it necessary to do away
>with the name. Notice that their response was not to improve the quality.
>The change was purely a marketing ploy.
>
I prefer to think that the Bundy name just had no value any longer. When
George M. Bundy founded Selmer USA he was a big name in the music field.
The name means nothing now (he is long dead), while the "Selmer" and "Bach"
names are known and associated with professional-grade instruments. That
association is valuable, especially when studints are looking to move up.
They can look to the same brand name they were happy with before. It works
for Yamaha. And notice how the "Evette" name has disappeared, too? I do
wish they would drop the old DESIGNS, though. They already have with the
AS300 alto sax, replacing the Bundy II. But I am told not to hold my
breath waiting for the TS300 tenor. I don't see a new clarinet on the
horizon, either. As long as they are holding their own against the other
makes, they won't spend the money on redesign and retooling. I guess
Yamaha finally ate into their sax sales enough to start the ball rolling,
though.

>I realize that this may seem too cynical. I hope I will be proven wrong.
>
Cynical, yes, but not entirely without justification. I hope my only
slightly kinder slant on the issue is a little closer to reality.

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

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

---------------------------------------------------------------------
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