 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: RLarm
Date: 2017-07-08 03:11
In 2004 I visited a Japanese High School while their clarinets were having a sectional.I wondered to myself what kind of ligature are they all using? Many years later I realized that they were all using Ishimoris and this was years before they became available in the US. In 2006 I picked up a Selmer and Yamaha brochure in the Yamaha Ginza store. They already were showing the Selmer Privilege low C bass. And it also didn't appear in the US until years later. In the back of the Yamaha flyer they had pictures of several very interesting clarinet cases. These only became available in the US when the Yamaha YCLSEVR and YCLCSVR started to become available. I have spoken with several retailers who lamented the fact that almost always the US gets new products last. What's going on?
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Author: Fuzzy
Date: 2017-07-08 06:50
[edit] Deleted a mistakenly posted item.
Post Edited (2017-07-08 07:01)
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Author: Fuzzy
Date: 2017-07-08 06:59
Unfortunately, the answer to your question probably isn't a musical one, and would most likely be best answered in a forum pertaining to politics, economics, and trade (Specifically, US politics, economics, and trade).
With Warmest Regards,
Fuzzy
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Author: tucker ★2017
Date: 2017-07-08 07:05
"Payback" is what popped into my head when I read the post. 
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Author: seabreeze
Date: 2017-07-08 07:08
We still can't buy MOMO clarinet ligatures in the US, and those have been around for a long time.
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Author: jthole
Date: 2017-07-08 15:11
That's for all those "US only" Ebay sellers :-P
I think it's not the companies themselves, but the importers, like Seiko trying to get EU Customs agencies to confiscate and destroy "grey market" Seiko watches (there's a case in Germany on this). Or Levi's forbidding USA retailers to offer online sales to Europe.
Unless there is a shortage, or e.g. a Japanese company has no importers in a region, I cannot see how the parent companies would benefit from such restrictions. OTOH, importers may want to offer a product mix that maximises profits in a given region.
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Author: derf5585
Date: 2017-07-08 18:36
Is there any clarinet items made in the US that is not sold in Japan?
fsbsde@yahoo.com
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Author: jthole
Date: 2017-07-08 19:01
derf5585 wrote:
> Is there any clarinet items made in the US that is not sold in
> Japan?
>
Based on my experiences in continental Europe, I would say yes. Try to buy a Ridenour Ivorolon barrel in the Eurozone, for instance. Or a Backun Protege.
Of course, buying from the UK is fine, at the moment (due to the exchange rate), but it's not uncommon that American companies don't distribute products in non-English speaking countries.
Oh, and not directly clarinet related; but try to buy "Scrubbing Bubbles" here.
Post Edited (2017-07-08 19:22)
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Author: dorjepismo ★2017
Date: 2017-07-08 20:09
I would guess that a lot has to do with supply and demand. The U.S. buys a lot more instruments than most other countries, so supplying top line instruments is more difficult, and players also have tended to be more conservative than places like Britain and Holland about trying new things, so demand is probably a bit less in any given location for the same top line instruments. I don't think it's that the makers don't like Americans. I think it has to do with the money, and possibly also the EU's greater scrutiny of the pricing and availability practices of manufacturers and distributers, as Apple and Google continue to discover. London really does seem to have carved out a niche for itself, though, in offering nearly everything at very competitive prices.
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Author: Ed Palanker
Date: 2017-07-09 18:07
When I was on tour to Japan with the BSO before cameras became available on our phones our local orchestra guide entered our bus and made out like he was taking pictures with his phone. Someone asked him what he was doing and he said, taking your pictures with my phone. People said, WHAT? He said it will become available in six months or so, in the US, and it did. the rest is history. There are many things I've seen in Europe, Japan etc over the years that has taken time to arrive in the US, if ever. People that haven't traveled abroad don't realize what we don't have here or get much later then they appear over there.
ESP eddiesclarinet.com
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Author: RLarm
Date: 2017-07-09 23:33
Sea breeze: Take it back regarding the Ishimoris. The entire section might have been using Momos. It is amazing if you ever get a chance to visit Tokyo to see the incredible amount of musical and electronic products that are available. Too bad because we lose out for whatever reason. But on the other hand, we save ourselves a lot of money$!
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Author: seabreeze
Date: 2017-07-10 00:05
Yep, Tokyo's Dolce Music, for example, carries a full range of clarinets from Backun, Buffet, Selmer, Yamaha, as well as Peter Eaton and even Oehler instruments from Herbert Wurlitzer. Let me know if you ever find a selection like that in any American store.
http://www.dolce.co.jp/en-products.html#clarinet.
Post Edited (2017-07-10 00:15)
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Author: RLarm
Date: 2017-07-10 00:30
Seabreeze: NO. It would be great but unfortunately I never see that happening even in LA, Chicago or New York. Definitely not in Honolulu!
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Author: toffeeman3
Date: 2017-07-11 05:35
Living in uK and looking at US offers on e bay it is incredible how expensive your used clarinets are compared to here.
Lots of Yamahas for sale. But I have to say that I have been dissapointed by most uS student clarinets I have bought. it seems to me that Selmer rely on their name,i.e. old French connection but have become overly brand orientated. I mean how many brands does one company need to sell essentially the same product.i.e.
Conn,Selmer.Bundy, Le Blanc, Buesher and on etc. LeBlanc seems the best of a bad bunch but cant touch Buffet quality.
Stick to Saxophones I think
07469847273
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Author: WhitePlainsDave
Date: 2017-07-11 19:00
A very quick anecdote, very quick.
In the States, for many years, the late and great John McLaughlin hosted a Sunday political show with equally brilliant political commentators from various political perspectives. My praise for McLaughlin doesn't necessary come from his, or any of the other speakers viewpoints, just their minds.
Anyway, after McLaughin posed a question, answered by the left/center/right pundits, McLaughlin would reply, somewhat smugly somewhat tongue-in-cheek, "the correct answer is ...." offering his two cents, which may or may have not been in harmony with the other experts.
In this spirit, (i.e. I could be entirely wrong) the correct answer is fuzzy's:
It's about money, not grudges or payback. It's, as fuzzy commented that it required clarification, about product safety standards, currency rates and the risks associated with their fluctuation, profitability, liability, marketspace and competitors, import/export costs, trademark and patent enforcement, a region's political stability, and more.
Post Edited (2017-07-11 19:01)
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Author: RLarm
Date: 2017-07-12 00:01
Interesting. I have heard all of these explanations and a lot more. It is a complicated issue.
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Author: jthole
Date: 2017-07-12 12:12
Getting informed about regional trends is very complicated indeed
While I can understand what is going on at German and (more or less at) French music forums, it already becomes very hard in the rest of Europe, and impossible with boards in the various Asian languages. The only "Japanese view" that I can get, for instance, is through Google Translate, which is very limited of course.
OTOH, 30 years ago I even had not a clue that there was a Japanese market, so that is progress indeed :-)
Edit: and of course, following worldwide sources would be a daytime job ...
Post Edited (2017-07-12 16:26)
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Author: dorjepismo ★2017
Date: 2017-07-12 20:35
About 30 years ago, when I was playing in Taiwan, you could send your Buffets to Buffet Japan for a complete overhaul, and they'd come back in incredible shape. We'd do that with new horns, just like people would do with Brannon and others in the U.S.
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