Klarinet Archive - Posting 000592.txt from 2000/08

From: Bill Hausmann <bhausmann1@-----.com>
Subj: Re: [kl] taking up the clarinet again
Date: Sun, 20 Aug 2000 11:38:07 -0400

At 07:47 AM 8/20/2000 -0700, Neil Leupold wrote:
>Why is _that_ the main thing? Do people appreciate a consistently mediocre
>product more than one of high quality, simply out of admiration for the main-
>tenance of manufacturing tolerances and the application of statistical
process
>controls? An engineer or plant manager might, but not a clarinetist. If
they
>are that good at it, manufacturers should mass produce an acoustically
identi-
>cal plastic Leblanc Opus, giving the customer the best of both worlds.
There's
>the rub, of course. They're not that good at it, and the market has yet
to give
>them a reason to innovate in that direction.
>
Why isn't EVERY automobile built to the same standards as the Rolls-Royce,
or with the performance of a Ferrari? Because most people could not afford
them. Henry Ford figured that out a long time ago, and it made him very
rich. Different markets require different solutions to the price vs.
quality equation. If they DID produce a plastic clarinet acoustically and
mechanically equal to the Opus, they'd have to charge nearly the same for
it or it would destroy the market for the wood Opus. If they charged only
student plastic prices, that would reduce their incentive to DEVELOP such
instruments, stifling innovation. In fact, the student models by major
manufacturers are, for the most part, pretty decent instruments, often very
closely modeled on professional-grade horns, and the incremental
improvements you gain as you add thousands of dollars to the price are
simply not worth the money for MOST people. 99% of the population can
commute to work in a Ford Escort and get there just as fast as the boss in
his Mercedes, and will have some money left over for food.

Bill Hausmann NEW ADDRESS: bhausmann1@-----.com
451 Old Orchard Drive http://homepages.go.com/~zoot14/zoot14.html
Essexville, MI 48732 ICQ UIN 4862265

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

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