 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: jez
Date: 2006-01-05 12:45
I've been wondering how much faith we can put in the claims made by some of the ads placed here by manufacturers.
For example Peter Eaton states 'each clarinet is hand made in England by our small team of craftsmen.....'
I understood that some of the bodies he uses are made by Tony Ward in Australia. I also believe that when his supply of keywork from Boosey & Hawkes runs out he may have them cast in the far east.
His claim that 'a unique type of pad has been developed, which is unique to Peter Eaton clarinets' cannot be trusted by those of us who have had those pads fitted by the person who developed them.
I suppose we should learn to take all such claims with a pinch of salt.
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Author: Chris P
Date: 2006-01-05 12:57
I wonder how many people on here share similar thoughts about the claims shouted by Hanson?
But I trust Omar Henderson as he made it very clear when asked that the Forte clarinets are made by Amati to his specification.
Former oboe finisher
Howarth of London
1998 - 2010
The opinions I express are my own.
Post Edited (2006-01-05 13:01)
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Author: Alseg
Date: 2006-01-05 13:30
Not to be a smart a_ _ , but from a curiosity standpoint, perhaps an email to Eaton/Hanson etc posing the question will yield a reliable answer.
Many, but not all, makers are responsive to questions.
I had an Amati question recently and sent a message via the "contact us" link and received a nice reply (although a bit delayed due to a Christmas vacation at the facility)
Former creator of CUSTOM CLARINET TUNING BARRELS by DR. ALLAN SEGAL
-Where the Sound Matters Most(tm)-
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Author: Chris P
Date: 2006-01-05 13:46
I've been tempted to go to their factories to have a look for myself - Peter Eaton isn't that far from me, but Yorkshire is about a 4-5 hour drive away, and this time of year it's probably best not to travel or use motorways.
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Author: Mark Charette
Date: 2006-01-05 15:23
Ads have used nebulous terms for a long time. "Hand-made" for certain is a nebulous term.
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Author: Chris P
Date: 2006-01-05 15:30
And I'd be interested to know how any UK company can make a clarinet that retails at £209 - the parts alone will probably cost more than that.
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Author: Mark Charette
Date: 2006-01-05 15:36
Chris P wrote:
> And I'd be interested to know how any UK company can make a
> clarinet that retails at £209 - the parts alone will probably
> cost more than that.
Don't be slow - ask them!. The answer is at your fingertips! It's not like the old times, where you'd have to travel hundreds of miles or wait months for a reply ... and even then, great discoveries were made ...
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Author: Chris P
Date: 2006-01-05 15:44
I don't think they'll like my subtlety somehow - 'Ere! How come your clarinets are so cheap? Are they made in China or what?'
Nah, I think I'll pay them a visit to see for myself.
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Author: Mark Charette
Date: 2006-01-05 15:55
Chris P wrote:
> I don't think they'll like my subtlety somehow -
You mean you can't phrase a reasonably nice letter? Even I can ... There's no reason to be stupid about it ...
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Author: ron b
Date: 2006-01-05 16:42
I find that everything somewhere along the line, Jez, is hand made from raw material. (Where the raw material came from is a matter of philosophy). Each piece of everything "made", assembly-line or touched by human hands, is in some way unique to that item. The place where the parts are assembled is the place where it's manufactured or, (by common usage of term) made. So, in my admittedly limited understanding of things, none of the makers have misstated anything.
The automobile is probably the most well known product that comes to mind when we discuss globalized manufacture/assembly/distribution.
The grains of salt I, and the majority of y'all, take things with are "distributed" locally, from who-knows-where, by So-and-So. No outlandish claims there either.
How much faith can we put in the claims of ads? Personally, I don't find it too difficult to read between the lines as I apply a liberal amount of salt from Lathrop, CA to my popcorn, that was packaged in Richmond, from crops harvested and shipped (by trucked cargo containers, via railroad) from Omaha 
- r![[cool]](http://test.woodwind.org/clarinet/BBoard/smileys/cool.gif) n b -
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