Klarinet Archive - Posting 000808.txt from 1999/12
From: Ken Wolman <kwolman@-----.com>
Subj: Re: [kl] Some disturbing news?
Date: Thu, 23 Dec 1999 21:04:41 -0500
Ken Wolman wrote:
> Well, on second thought.... The horn is not bad. The intonation is
> okay, the keys haven't gone flying off yet. My worst problem with it is
> one mouthpiece, a Selmer metal C* classical which is simply one of the
> hardest mouthpieces I've ever used in terms of maintaining consistent
> intonation. I played it with the standard ligature and the Consoli, and
> the Consoli HELPS but is hardly a cure. The Otto Link metal jazz mp is
> a pleasure. So what do I do? I keep the horn. I'm not turning pro
> next week; I don't need nor can I afford a used Selmer Mark VI (unless I
> jackroll Kenny G and do myself and the musical world a favor:-); so I'll
> get over my surprise and just enjoy listening to the sound of the horn
> and to Jane Ira Bloom and Steve Lacy recordings. My inspirations....
I wrote to Prestini yesterday and asked them straight out if their horns
are made in Taiwan. The sales and marketing manager replied this
afternoon (yes, I was surprised) that indeed their keywork and bodies
ARE manufactured in Taiwan, but not in the cookie-cutter factories that
turn out Jean Baptistes and Winstons, etc. The horns are assembled in
Taiwan, but are shipped to the factory in Arizona, and are tested before
they are shipped to dealers. He said he makes 3 or 4 trips a year to
Taiwan to make sure standards are being met. So, as he put it, it's a
USA factory that happens to be located in Taiwan.
I have no reason to doubt this. The instrument plays very okay. Like I
said, the keys haven't fallen off yet.
I forwarded the note to the guys at Roberto's Woodwinds who sold me the
instrument back in May. They were shocked, not because the quality is
shoddy--it's not--but because Prestini is probably paying the laborers
in their offshore shop a pathetic wage compared to what they'd have to
charge if the horns were made entirely Stateside. Nobody, including
Roberto's, ever claimed I was buying an equivalent to a high-end
Keilwerth or Selmer, but they were under the same impression as me,
i.e., that the instruments were made HERE.
Then again...the instrument, new, cost me $775.00. What kind of soprano
are you going to get for that price, new, unless it's been put together
by people who get a pittance per day?
What's scarier are those persistent rumors that Selmer USA is going
offshore with their instruments, but are going to charge Selmer prices
for them. If the rumor is true, THAT is real exploitation.
Ken
----------------------------
Kenneth Wolman "From The Meadowlands" -
http://www.rio-cardoner.com
"When you stop falling, you will be in Heaven. When you stop getting
up, you will
be in Hell." -- Michael Torkington
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