Klarinet Archive - Posting 000456.txt from 2006/03

From: Oliver Seely <oseely@-----.edu>
Subj: Re: [kl] Re: buffets and Rafi's complaints
Date: Thu, 23 Mar 2006 15:41:53 -0500

I think I agree with Walter. But I go further. The thought of
buying a new clarinet by mail order turns me off even more than my
one experience trying out clarinets on the rue de Rome in Paris back
in 1985 when my French had finally gotten good enough to give it a
try out on the street. I discovered that there was an inherent
obligation that I buy an instrument and I DIDN'T like the feeling at
all, so I tried out several, said "merci, messieurs" all around and I
was on my way. Even trying out mouthpieces at the Selmer shop was
not satisfying when the guy on the sales floor suddenly realized he'd
made a mistake with me -- that I was not an American professional but
a yahoo who walked through the door trying out his bad French and he
bounded up the stairs to the room where he had put me to make sure I
wasn't making off with all of the exquisite brass
instruments. Moreover I discovered that the prices were a bit more
than what I would have to pay in the U.S. for a new Selmer or
Buffet. There didn't seem to be a good factory deal available.

It is far more satisfying to me to poke around music stores over here
and try out one instrument after another, bid everyone adieu and
think about it for a while. If you buy the random reed or tube of
cork grease while you're there, so much the better. Notwithstanding
the frequently heard accolade that one or another mail-order
clarinets was the best the evangelist ever played, buying instruments
by mail order leaves me cold.

Oliver

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