Klarinet Archive - Posting 000062.txt from 2006/03

From: o4rmondtoby@-----.net (Ormondtoby Montoya)
Subj: [kl] Test driving... Why?
Date: Sun, 05 Mar 2006 01:59:43 -0500

Lynn Thomas wrote

> How many cars do people drive before they
> buy one? =A0 I drove 10 Avalons before I bought
> mine, and they all drove differently. Why
> wouldn't someone do the same with a horn?

Many of us (including myself) agree with your thesis that a clarinet
customer should expect to 'test drive' several instances of the same
model before purchasing one of them (which apparently Rommel is doing).
But the analogy between clarinets and automobiles is flawed.

However the flaw highlights your thesis quite well.

I think it's fair to say that an experienced clarinet customer's
tolerance for slight variations between instruments (of the same model)
is less, and also more difficult to define, and also more difficult to
force onto the seller, than in the case of automobiles

Part of the explanation is profit margins. Obviously a car dealer
can't afford to loan three vehicles, and then take two 'used vehicles'
back after you've driven all three of them extensively for two weeks.

Another part of the explanation is that acceptable automobile
performance can be defined with numbers and words which are printed in a
brochure. This allows claims of defective vehicles to be decided by
comparing with the brochure. Claims such as "The upholstery in this
vehicle is... well, I don't know... somehow it feels different... send
me another car... I'll tell you if it feels better..." won't get you
very far. Most automobile customers know this and accept it.

You commented that you drove ten instances of the same automobile model
before you accepted one of them. I am not criticizing you for this
(definitely not), but I think your case is unusual. Test playing ten
clarinets of the same model is not so ridiculous or unusual.

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