Klarinet Archive - Posting 000898.txt from 2000/03

From: Shouryu Nohe <jnohe@-----.edu>
Subj: Re: [kl] New member with Buffet quality question
Date: Mon, 27 Mar 2000 20:08:17 -0500

On Mon, 27 Mar 2000, James D. McLeod wrote:

> through the tone holes. He is meticulous about his care of the
> instrument, yet he still has had this unfortunate luck. Purchased
> through WW and BW, he is past the warranty by a few months (although
> they did replace the joint once before). Now their replacement joint
> has cracked after only 3 weeks! They are understandably unwilling to do
> anything more (out of warranty and all). Is there a regional Buffet
> rep. for the Michigan area?

Now suddenly I'm not surprised...I think the case here may NOT be a
problem with Buffet clarinets, but with WW&BW...I do not do instrument
business with WWBW, mainly because I have been strongly advised not to do
so through outside sources. I don't believe them to be a bad firm; I just
don't think they are as meticulous as my preferred choices, Muncy, then
Weiner's. Perhaps it helps that my preferred choices are primarily owned
by clarinet techs...

In any case, I have encountered three players in my area who have
purchased clarinets from WWBW that have cracked, two being Buffets, one
being a Selmer 10 series. Yet I know more people who have purchased from
Muncy who have never had a problem (although I should exclude three of
them, including myself; we bought Greenlines).

I live in a very dry climate, for the most part, that, during key weeks in
the year, goes through a very drastic change, for perhaps only a few
weeks. This usually occurs in the mid Summer and mid fall, when for
three or four days, it will pour on and off rather suddenly and
drastically.

Most of my friends do not oil or 'protect' their instruments with the
exception of in-case humidifiers. The only instruments that I know of
cracking have either come from a local store (well...actually one in El
Paso) or WW/BW. A friend who plays an Opus does occasionally find his
tenon rings loosening, and his keys with lots of play, so he's constantly
sending it in for adjustment...I -THINK- he purchased from WWBW as well,
but I'm not sure. But he doesn't use a humidifier, either. (He also
marches with the thing...don't try...we've all warned him numerous times.)

One of the unlucky WWBW customers (who is no longer a student here) had a
theory that in places like NM or AZ, WWBW probably sends their lower
quality clarinets since the climate is so lousy anyway, so there is no
hope either way. I don't know if its true or not; my best guess is simply
that WWBW operates on a larger scale than Phil Muncy or Fred Weiner, and
therefore doesn't select their instruements as meticulously.

Does some of the fault still lie with Buffet? I dunno. I'd like to think
'no', because I know that Muncy tends to pick the jewels of the bunch, and
so those of us who purchase get good instruments for certain. Nothing
material is perfect, no matter how much you pay for it (anyone who owns a
Lotus Esprit will tell you...or a DeLorean), and there is most likely a
natural bell curve within ALL manufacturing processes that produces a few
serious lemons, a few serious perfections, a large number of fine
products, and then an amount that falls in between fine/lemon and
fine/perfect. (Unless, again, you are purchasing a DeLemoian...er,
DeLorean.) A lot that decides what you get from that bell curve is where
you go to purchase the product.

At least, that's my theory.

J. Shouryu Nohe
http://web.nmsu.edu/~jnohe
Professor of SCSM102, New Mexico State Univ.
"I don't know, and I don't have an opinion." - Jet Black

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