Klarinet Archive - Posting 000490.txt from 2005/06

From: Bill Hausmann <bhausmann1@-----.net>
Subj: Re: [kl] Buffet-Crampon now independent
Date: Sat, 25 Jun 2005 02:45:58 -0400

At 08:49 AM 6/24/2005 -0400, Lelia Loban wrote:
>...Whether the quality of Buffet's product would have deteriorated or not
>under corporate ownership, I think that musicians would naturally assume
>that a conglomerate would come to perceive the prestigious logo as a
>convenient front for inferior goods, as has happened so many times with
>formerly-respected brand names. Look at what happened to C. G. Conn's
>great saxophones after his widow sold the company. I notice Conn has now
>taken back the "C.G." part of the logo that the widow refused to sell, back
>in the day, but do I assume that the reversion to the old logo means this
>brand will recover its former status? Hell, no. Even though I've never
>even seen a Conn made under the new label, and have no specific reason to
>pass prior judgment, I have no faith at all that this brand will improve,
>because I've seen too many years of Conn as just another logo in the
>conglomerate's catalogue, alongside the sorry likes of Armstrong and
>Artley. I think it's probably too late for Conn, because people will
>assume, as I do, that the logo change is just a cynical marketing ploy.
>Maintaining a good reputation is so much easier than rehabilitating a
>damaged reputation.

I doubt very much that Conn will return to the pro sax business (they have
barely stayed in the intermediate and student markets, despite relatively
new designs), especially since they would be competing with their
Conn-Selmer brandmates Selmer USA and Selmer Paris, not to mention
Leblanc's Yanagisawa line. However, the name has continued to carry some
weight in the low brass area, and will likely continue to do so. The 88H
trombone is still one of the best-regarded. Their Vintage One trumpet,
while excellent, has failed to make inroads against the Bach
Stradivarius. And they make the Cadillac of sousaphones. The Conn story
is a classic one of how a bunch of MBA's with no knowledge or interest in
an artist market can destroy a company almost overnight.

Now the good news: The Artley name is essentially dead. The Armstrong
name is pretty much just for flutes now, which was their forte anyway. The
Conn name will remain. Not sure about King, since they have a lot of
overlap with Conn's strengths.

Bill Hausmann

If you have to mic a saxophone, the rest of the band is TOO LOUD!

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