Klarinet Archive - Posting 000847.txt from 1999/12

From: "Franklin Kercher" <kranwli@-----.net>
Subj: [kl] Made in China
Date: Fri, 24 Dec 1999 21:47:25 -0500

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A lot of kids in our area are ending up with Jupiter instruments as they =
are being sold by a major music chain here. So far the only big problem =
I have encountered so far is that they are apparently shipped totaly =
devoid of any lubricant. I've had to very carefully remove the screw =
pins and rods (sometimes with penetrating oil and heat), clean, then =
reassemble them with a good quality key oil. This is usually after =
marching practice or a football game when the instrument is hastily =
crammed back in the case wet and next Monday, its all frozen up. Other =
than that, they seen to be holding up fairly well even in the hands of =
middle schoolers who are pretty rough on them. However some of the other =
Chinese brands brought to me are suffering from very weak metal, poor =
solder joints and no parts available.

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