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Re: What is wrong with Buffet?

Author: Kalashnikirby
Date: 2017-10-21 11:53

To draw an analogy to another passion I have, mountain biking, I can say with certainty that the big brands there are neither better nor more affordable than the small ones. And we're paying roughly the same sums that we'd pay for a good instrument, while the latter will last a bit longer!
One big brand in particular over here in Germany (to my mind) makes such boring, average bikes, selling them only online. This brand has the worst after sales support one could ever imagine, which makes me wonder why people still buy these bikes, as we highly depend on that - there are so many parts that can break or perform poorly, forcing you to send them back under warranty.
But... They have contracted many pro riders, are present at many (test) events and have legions of marketing people behind them (whether these people are aware of it or not). That's what keeps them going and that's what keeps Buffet going, too - the average buyer believes pro riders, with their had-picked gear and mechanics behind them, to have more desirable bikes than anyone else. They thing is, these pros don't care and will change their brand as soon as a better contract is in sight - their skills exceed anything us mortals could hope to achieve.
In analogy to that, do you believe a Martin Fröst cares about the equipment he plays on? Go watch the video "Martin Fröst Visits Buffet Crampon" and tell me how anything he says should affect my buying decision? His being in a room with carefully selected top-of-the-line instruments while contemplating on the nature of playing the clarinet or something like that has nothing to do with the real world. And next to this video you watch him trying out vandoren V21 reeds (100,000 views).

Unlike biking, however, clarinetists don't create nearly as much blogs, forums or (online) magazines. I find that among musicians, there's almost no online communication and even nowadays people buy based on something someone recommend them years ago, and neither of them has even tried out the actual instrument. On the either hand, I can find a handful reviews and endless discussions about almost any bike that I'd put my eye on. As a "tech nerd" there's hardly a greater joy than finding a detailed tutorial on disassembling my suspension fork, along with tipps what kind of oil and grease I should use. Every single parameter one could adjust is discussed in threads with 200+ pages - and that's just about one specific part for a specific type of bike.
In our last rehearsal, however, our principal clarinet stared at me with what must have been a mix of horror and pity when I told her I repadded my clarinet using hot glue. I've probably desecrated the holy heritage of century-old instrument making and offended her and legions of (now dead) teachers and repair techs who just always "did it that way", so she replied: "No... I'll never have HOT GLUE on MY clarinet". Thus, the discussion was ended.

So I'm very glad about this forum where people, whom I could learn a great deal from, are more open to discussion. In my experience, many clarinetists never switched "their" brand and their repair tech, usually with the same explanation: That they had always done it this way.
Were I to live in a country without the same density of instrument makers and shops, so the only option would be to order online, I'd heavily depend on others' experiences. I still cannot wrap my mind around the fact that there are so many other great communities for even the most absurd topics (ever heard of e-cigarette smokers creating huge databases to measure the performance of 100+ different 18650 Li-ion cells?) and we clarinetists mostly remain silent. Are there so few of us??

Post Edited (2017-10-21 12:03)

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What is wrong with Buffet? new

mproper2009

2017-10-18 02:12