Klarinet Archive - Posting 000047.txt from 2006/03
From: "Rommel John Miller" <rjmiller@-----.net>
Subj: Re: [kl] Buffet R-13 Played and Failed
Date: Sat, 04 Mar 2006 10:55:35 -0500
Hey Bill,
you know, it was one of those things, I went to the "local" Baldwin dealer
and was looking to purchase a piano, a nice Hamilton 310 popped out, and it
looked nice and it sounded nice to. But it had a low to the ground look and
the cabinetry was simple. Besides I wasn't sure of the felt weights on the
hammers or the construction of the soundboard or the depth of ply in the
Pinblock.
But when I got home I when to the Baldwin website, which is owned by Gibson,
the Guitar people, and Baldwin makes the Hamilton and I did a little
comparission on the specs. The Hamilton 310 lines up almost neck and neck
with the Baldwin 660E with the latter having some better features than the
former.
Then I looked at the Acrosonics vs. the 5000 and 6000 series. And it was the
5000E series that won hands down on specs alone. 5 lb weight felted wool
inner and 12.5 lb weight felted wool outter on the hammers was a selling
point as was the Solid Sitka Spruce Soundboard , the Rock Maple Bridge, and
the Spruce Ribbing, the fact that the 5000E has 5 back posts instead of the
standand 4 was a selling point as was the 19 ply Rock Maple Pinblock.
But the kicker is the warranty, 25 years on parts and 10 on labor, what does
Buffet give us, if anything? In the limited warranty Buffet only gives their
Professional level Clarinets a 2-year warranty against cracks ONLY.
As I am trained in Para Legal studies I lnow the difference between and
implied warranty as in Baldwin's case, and the stated Limited Warranty
enclosed with this latest Buffet I have.
But still Baldwin could not make the implied claim without due cause, and
that in and of itself is a selling point.
I had no idea the Piano would cost me $8000.00 -- that to me is one heck of
a lot of money. That is an A Clarinet, and a Yanagisawa Tenor Sax when I
think about it. But then I also think about how essential a Piano is to the
Musical repetrorie of anyone, by it an electronic keyboard or full Grand.
I opted for the nicest and supposedly well-made verticle piano I can afford
by means of lay-a-way. Most music stores won't do that with Buffets or
Yanagisawas, they want their money now and up front becasue they know the
liability on the product is high.
A piano dealer has to build a relationship of turst with his customer, after
all he might well be the tuner of that Piano for many years to come; I know
the man who is selling me my 5025E is also a Tech, and I am going to have
him do the annual tuning on my piano after if it installed.
Places like WWBW and others could care less if we were repeat customers,
becasue where we have be burned, others who haven't will come to be burnt.
And that is what life has become since I was a little kid, and I don't know
if it was Eisenhower, Kennedy, Johnson, Nixon, Ford, Carter, Reagan, Bush 1,
or Clinton who fouled it up but I just know the "there's a sucker born every
minute, and we're out to screw him" ethic of business has been around for
longer than any of these guys.
And we can't blame anyone particular race or group of people the way the
Nazis did. For the Nazi's themselves were greedy little bastards too.
All I or anyone wants is a fair deal and a decent product. And now it seems
the only way you can get is to be some kind of rich millionaire to be able
to afford it. Well that isn't right, becasue while money is nice, it is
not power, and lots of it doesn't weild you power, or it does, but if you
don't know how to use the power it gives you, you will soon fall into ruin.
That's why mafia bosses like to kill one another off, for money, power and
control, and the little goombahs do the same thing, and then the Boyz in da
hood do the same thing.
When money = power, violence and death are not far behind,
but when KNOWLEDGE = power, people become EMPOWERED.
And we need to demand more accountability from Buffet.
Shalom,
Rommel John Miller
(Hebrew name: Raphael Jochanan ben Avraham Miller)
308 Dale Avenue
Baltimore, MD 21206
410-668-4784
410-967-8994 (cell)
rjmiller@-----.net
"Outside of a dog, a book is man's best friend,
inside of a dog, it's too dark to read."
---"Groucho" Marx
----- Original Message -----
From: "Bill Hausmann" <bhausmann1@-----.net>
To: <klarinet@-----.org>
Sent: Saturday, March 04, 2006 8:48 AM
Subject: RE: [kl] Buffet R-13 Played and Failed
> At 07:05 AM 3/4/2006 -0600, Forest E Aten wrote:
> > > I just hope my Balwin/Hamilton 5025E Piano is going to be a winner
when it
> > > comes, if not, then I'll know I am cursed!
> >
> >It's an inexpensive piano...you get what you pay for...
>
> It is about the most expensive one I know of, and I used to SELL them!
And
> at that time, they were as inconsistent as Buffet clarinets.
>
> The head tech in our shop goes over each R-13 that comes in, and not
> infrequently rejects them as too bad to fix. Chipped tone holes seem to
be
> very common.
>
>
> Bill Hausmann
>
> If you have to mic a saxophone, the rest of the band is TOO LOUD!
>
>
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