Klarinet Archive - Posting 000933.txt from 2000/03

From: Shouryu Nohe <jnohe@-----.edu>
Subj: RE: [kl] New member with Buffet quality question
Date: Tue, 28 Mar 2000 20:55:24 -0500

On Mon, 27 Mar 2000, Kevin Fay (LCA) wrote:

> Dennis Bamber owns WW&BW. He may or may not play much clarinet. You will
> have to do one hell of a lot of practicing before you play saxophone at his
> level, though -- if you ever get there.

Ouch! Well...nah, I think pretty highly of you, Mr. Fay. That probably
wasn't a shot at me, but praise for Mr. Bamber, which I have no doubts he
has earned.

> <<<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.>>>
>
> WW&BW sends most of the new Buffet instruments still in plastic from
> Francois Kloc's workshop -- which is how most people (like me) would want
> them.

*shrug* Like I said, this theory came from someone else.

> <<<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.>>>
>
> None of the listed firms "select" their clarinets at all. They get them by
> the truckload, drop-shipped in pallets from the factory.

And then Phil hand selects his clarinets. Or at least so HE HIMSELF has
told me. You can accuse me of being wrong on this one, but more likely to
believe Phil than you. What anyone else does with their business, I leave
you to clarify, since you might have actually spoken to those people,
which I haven't. *shrug*

> The truth? You'll hear more about cracking Buffets, Selmers & Leblancs from
> WW&BW because they sell so many more Buffets, Selmers & Leblancs. They are
> the #1 retailer of artist-level clarinets in the U.S.

That was sort of where my bell curve theory kind of went - I suppose I
could have been clearer on that (its what I meant sort of when also saying
that WWBW operates on a much larger scale than Muncy. They get more of
all sorts of clarinets).

> While I too send my
> business elsewhere today -- I tend to go with Lisa Argiris' shop -- I have
> dealt with WW&BW for years, and have found them to be honest, very
> customer-service oriented and a pure joy to buy from. Two of the
> instruments in my arsenal were purchased from WW&BW, all of them approved
> from a number sent to me. They did good.

I never meant it as an attack of any sort, just a possible explantion. My
apologies if you took it that way.

> Now I suppose it's *possible* that the shipment of a clarinet from South
> Bend to New Mexico might be harder on the wood than one shipped from Muncy
> (in Texas, I believe). To attribute some anecdotal wood problems to Dennis
> Bamber's integrity, though, is just plain silly. It is also quite flat-out
> wrong, as well as the wrong thing to do.

Hey, it wasn't my theory, and okay - I shouldn't have presented it. My
bad there, and I apologize.

(Phil deals out of NC, by the way. *grin*)

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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