Klarinet Archive - Posting 000186.txt from 2003/01

From: LeliaLoban@-----.com
Subj: [kl] Chinese Clarinets
Date: Wed, 8 Jan 2003 17:21:55 -0500

Russell V. Conjerti wrote,

>I saw some good Chinese made student violins; ~$1000+,
>that compared favorably with others in that range when I
>was helping my daughter find her violin. I don't believe
>these were assembly line manufactured but rather
>seemed to reflect good workmanship at low labor costs.

My husband plays the violin. One of his friends is a violin repairman and
dealer. We know this racket pretty well, because about 30 years ago, my
husband started buying student-quality fiddles hither and thither and selling
them in lots to this dealer (and his father before him). Sometimes Kevin
would add his then-current playing instrument to a particularly good trade
pile, and trade in the lot for a better fiddle. He slowly traded his way up
to a good, old, Italian violin (along the way, he also saved up enough fiddle
money for the down payment on our house), but we still see our friend, and of
course Kevin still needs strings and whatnot, and occasionally we run across
a trader even though we're not really looking any more--so we're still in and
out of the fiddle-pusher's shop fairly often.

It's been interesting to see the progress in Chinese violin-making over the
years. All the bad words about Chinese clarinets used to apply equally to
Chinese violin-shaped objects. They were horrible in every way. In all those
years of active trading, we never saw one Chinese violin that was good enough
to buy it and re-sell it, let alone to recommend it--until about five years
ago.

Apparently, Chinese luthiers recently started travelling overseas and
studying violin-making techniques in countries with a reputation for student
violins made to high standards. I don't think any Chinese violins are
considered professional quality today, but the best of today's Chinese
student model violins are fine for kids, and orders of magnitude better than
the best Chinese violins that were available a decade ago.

What's happened with the violins gives me hope that someday we'll see decent
student clarinets from China, too. I'd like to see more affordable
instruments that play well enough not to discourage a student. But, in the
meantime, I think parents can do better with a used, reconditioned clarinet
from a major manufacturer, sold by a reputable repair technician or music
store, instead of buying a musical instrument from a chain discounter that
sells clarinets as if they were tube socks.

As long as stores like Costco and Target can peddle cruddy clarinets to the
ignorant, they'll find somebody to manufacture this junk, somewhere. If the
cruddy clarinets quit selling because people get wise, then the stores will
either turn to manufacturers who can supply something better or they'll give
that market back to the specialists.

Lelia

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