Klarinet Archive - Posting 000077.txt from 2003/11

From: GrabnerWG@-----.com
Subj: Re: [kl] music123
Date: Wed, 5 Nov 2003 13:35:13 -0500

Here's the other side of the coin. Low price is great, but what happens when the horn doesn't work?

Twice now I have had people bring in brand new bass clarinets or contra bass clarinets, bought from one of the "internet-catalog" vendors. One bass clarinet did NOT play at all, the contra was full of tiny leaks that make it play miserably.

In both cases, the customer had a terrible time getting the vendor to put the horn in playing condition. The conta guy finally gave up and paid me to do the work.

In both cases, it was either bent keys, mis-applied corks, or pad which simply did not seat.

Ofering prices as low as they do, the "internet-catalog" vendor cannot afford to give much service. I would guess that in 99% of the time, the box that the instrument is in is never opened between the time it leaves the manufacturer and the time it gets to the customer.

So, often, even though the initial price is low, the total cost of purchase can be quite higher than expected.

Walter Grabner
www.clarinetXpress.com
Clarinet mouthpieces

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