Klarinet Archive - Posting 000200.txt from 2003/03

From: "Kevin Fay" <kevinfay@-----.com>
Subj: RE: [kl] More corporate shenanigans in the instrument manufacturing world
Date: Wed, 5 Mar 2003 00:07:54 -0500

Ed Lacy notes:

<<<As of a couple of months ago, there is a new mega-corporation in the
music world called "Conn-Selmer, Inc."=A0 This is true - I didn't make =
it up.=A0
The unlikely merger between these two former competitors means that one
corporate entity owns and controls the brand names Armstrong, Artley, =
Bach,
Benge, Buescher, Conn, Emerson, Glaesel, King, Ludwig, Musser, Scherl &
Roth, and Selmer.=A0 Further, not mentioned on this list are other brand =
names
that previously have disappeared in earlier buy-outs and takeovers by =
some
of the above, including Linton, Lesher, White, and Cleveland.=A0 But, =
that
doesn't even tell the whole story.=A0 Amazingly, the corporate entity =
under
which this company operates is called "Steinway, Inc."=A0 That's right; =
the
so-called "parent" is the Steinway piano company.=A0 Note also that all =
the
names on the list of brands are also the names of formerly independent
companies, some of whom at one time competed with each other.>>>

. . . to which Neil Leopold juxtaposed:

<<<And now we have plastic reeds good enough to play in a professional
context. Clarinetists are sitting in the cat-bird seat if ever a =
particular
group of instrumentalists were. Peter and his Wolf might both be a =
little
envious if they knew. :)>>>

Sorry, but I have to vote with Neil here. The state of clarinetdom has
never had it so good as we do today. =20

The Steinway-UMI purchase happened a couple of years ago. Most of the =
brand
names mentioned, however, have been moribund as separate manufacturers =
for
longer than I've been alive.

The truth is that you get what you pay for. As noted in another post, =
folks
have been complaining over the lack of hand craftsmanship in mass =
produced
instruments forever. This isn't because the instrument makers are big, =
or
even evil - it's because the instruments are mass-produced. If you want
extra hand crafting, Bill Brannen, Morrie Backun and their ilk will sell =
it
to you. 1,600 bux for a artist-level horn is a bargain.

Old brands die, usually for good reason. The old Conn trumpets sucked - =
so
when Selmer bought the plant back in the early '60s, they bought the =
shop &
designs of a small custom maker (the equivalent of Dave Monette's today) =
and
started making those horns in the Big Factory. Now, every decent =
trumpet
player in the land can afford a Bach. =20

In my opinion, Buffet and their competition have done a heck of a job
increasing their quality control over the last several years. When I =
was a
wee lad, you'd want to try out a dozen R-13s to make sure you got a good
one. When I did that very thing at the Clarinet festival, I got bored -
they all played the same (quite well). This is a good thing, due to =
pretty
much equal parts good management and advances in computer-aided machine
tools.

The competition isn't only the small maker. Guy Chadash makes pretty =
good
clarinets, but influences design in other ways too; Luis Rossi and Steve =
Fox
also make fine horns. The *real* competition in the industry isn't from
small makers, though, it's from a huge Japanese conglomerate with vast
expertise in precision manufacturing (think motorcycle racing engines) =
and a
corporate willingness to invest large in new markets.

. . . I do love my Yamahas.

I applaud the Buffet deal, as far as the press releases go. I'm not all
that familiar with Rutledge, but the fact that they have retained the =
senior
managers bodes well - looks like a classic management buy-out. Put =
another
way, it's entirely possible that the clarinet factory will now be run by =
the
clarinet makers, and not the music publishers at the parent company. If
there isn't too much leverage (i.e., debt), we could see really =
innovative
things. I'm optimistic.

kjf

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