Klarinet Archive - Posting 000245.txt from 2006/08
From: "Mark Sausville" <sausvill@-----.net>
Subj: RE: [kl] $650 mouthpieces???
Date: Sun, 20 Aug 2006 02:28:55 -0400
In response to one of the original points in your message, I think the only
way you'd be able to try 5 of these at a given time would be at Behn's place
or at Clarinetfest.
I looked into these pieces sometime ago and he had a 6 month lead time to
get one piece. That may have changed, I don't know. My impression is that
all the pieces he makes are promised before they are made. So apparently
there are enough people who want them to keep him constantly going at full
capacity.
I'm not one of them because I didn't have 6 months to wait, try and decide
to buy.
I'd be willing to bet that if he could make them faster, he would.
I'd certainly be happy to have the opportunity to try some of these pieces.
If I go to Vancouver next year, I intend to do that.
M.
Mark Sausville
-----Original Message-----
From: Bryan Crumpler [mailto:crumpletox@-----.com]
Sent: Saturday, August 19, 2006 11:33 AM
To: klarinet@-----.org
Subject: [kl] $650 mouthpieces???
Hi all,
Just wondering if anyone has tried or had any credible reviews of the Behn
International's clarinet mouthpieces (http://www.clarinetmouthpiece.com).
From the website, I think he had a booth at Clarifest, but I was not in
attendenace. I'm curious about the mouthpieces, but as it seems, they only
expect to sell about 50 of them worldwide - ever. Why? Because they are $650
a piece... and to my knowledge, have no established reputation on the
market.
I'm having a really hard time trying to justify why this guy, and his
company, expects anyone to pay $650 per mouthpiece, regardless of how good
the mouthpieces may be. There is something to be said about labor... but the
company's business model is a tad flawed, especially their sales policies.
The company requires full payment in advance on all orders, and they do have
a trial period of 14 days. If you return any mouthpieces within that trial
period, they charge a 5% restocking fee... which is already ridiculous. Fred
Weiner does that too, and their restocking percentage is higher... and Fred
Weiner is rather bootleg tossing everything in old business papers and
newspaper with crappy boxing as opposed to what would normally be considered
"professional" packaging.
So... let's say I want to try 5 mouth pieces... That means I have to have
$3250 up front to pay for the things??? And what if I don't like them? I end
up spending $162.50 in restocking fees, or at least if I keep one... I spend
$650 + $130 in restocking fees for the rest of those mouthpieces? I'm not
even going to let you do the math. That's 780 bucks for 1 mouthpiece. And we
ALL (at least I hope most of us) know that no mouthpiece is the blow all be
all of mouthpieces. What's up with that?!
So I'm just curious if anyone has ever actually tried the things, and if so,
what their honest opinion is.
Thanks,
Bryan
www.whosthatguy.com
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