 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: Roman Eller
Date: 2002-04-13 21:48
Okay, this is goinf to freak you guys out, but anyways, I am no playing a student Selmer Bundy Plastic Clarinet from the 60's which I recently got redone for 150 dollars.
I play in our junior high band. I have masterded lots of insruments already, so I wanted a professional, wooden clarinet. Well, since I am from Ukraine (1996), my grandpa still lives in Ukraine, well I asked him to see if he could find a clarint like I want in any of the local music store. So he went and asked, and they said we have a professional, new, wooden, Yamaha clarinet that you can buy for around $100. I was like shocke when I heard how much it cost. I am wondering why musical instruments in Europe are much cheaper than America, like a Yamaha here like that one would cost around $5,000? That is weird.
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Author: crystal
Date: 2002-04-13 23:36
What's wrong with it? I think that guy is taking you for a fast one, sounds sketchy
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Author: willie
Date: 2002-04-13 23:40
I agree with Mark...there must be some confusion on the price as clarinets are more expensive in Europe. From what I've heard on the net, the furthur east you go in Europe, the MORE expencive for a quality horn! I met an Armenian merchant seaman here who was buying old clarinets and trumpets at the local pawn shops. He said he could triple his money at home without even overhauling them.
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Author: Gordon (NZ)
Date: 2002-04-14 00:14
If nobody bought instruments that cheap we would not get them stolen. If it's too good to be true it probably is. Buying at this price becomes a matter of one's personal integrity.
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Author: Roman Eller
Date: 2002-04-14 00:36
Fine, if you don't believe me, when I get it I will ask my granpa to send me the recipt and the clarinet, I will post the condition and real price of you call "thrown of the truck" clarinet
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Author: Mark Charette
Date: 2002-04-14 00:41
And please publish the serial number so we can send it back to its rightful owner, OK?
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Author: Forest Aten
Date: 2002-04-14 00:44
Roman,
You may have missed Mark's point. When he said, "it fell off the truck", he was trying to say nicely that the instrument price that you gave was not in line with the normal prices in Europe and that this may be an indication that the instrument may be a "black market" item.
Your orginal header.."can you believe it"...was pretty clearly answered by several on the phorum. No, we can't beleive it.
I will also say that I find clarinets to be more expensive in Europe.
Good luck.
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Author: Gordon (NZ)
Date: 2002-04-14 11:09
A little naive, Roman? Someone has to tell it to you straight....
Just because you buy it from somewhere and get a receipt, does not mean that it has not been stolen before that trader sold it to you. The fact that the price is so low means that the trader almost certainly KNOWS it has been stolen.
I've met a few of these ultra-cheap instruments, checked with the police, ascertained that they WERE stolen, and refused to even work on them. The police, unfortunately, have more important things on their mind to follow up.
Because my customer was a 'good, honest Christian' guy, he simply took them back to the 'supplier' and swapped with replacements, probably also stolen. This time my customer was careful not to disclose to me the price paid. Hmmmm! I guess this sort of thing happens in all countries.
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Author: donald nicholls
Date: 2002-04-14 20:02
....there is another possibility that has not been discussed- perhaps it's 1) not new 2) not a professional instrument 3)not a Yamaha..... or it maybe could be a really really old Yamaha....
(that's 3 possibilities that come to mind)
either way.... i still agree with the postings above
donald
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Author: JMcAulay
Date: 2002-04-15 00:28
Roman, the comment was not that the instrument was "thrown off the truck," it was that it maybe "fell off the truck." This is an American idiom from the early part of the twentieth century, when workers unloading trucks would occasionally have goods to sell that had been in shipments they unloaded. Their response to questions as to whether the merchndise could have been stolen went something like: "Stolen? Of course not. I found it. Maybe it fell off the truck."
So, you tell your grandfather you want a good Clarinet, and he asks around about a really good price on a Clarinet. He's not a Clarinet expert; he probably has no idea how much they cost. Believe me, Roman, if this instrument had a price tag of even a thousand dollars, I might think of some legitimate reason why it could sell for so little. A bankruptcy, salvage from an insurance company, or any one of a number of things. But an item that normlly sells for thousands of dollars and right now can be bought for only a hundred? I would be astonished if it has a legitimate series of owners going all the way back to the factory. "Maybe it fell off the truck."
Would you want to eat a steak that only cost you fifteen cents a pound? The thought would frighten me. I wouldn't even want it in my house.
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Author: John
Date: 2002-04-15 01:22
"Would you want to eat a steak that only cost you fifteen cents a pound? The thought would frighten me. I wouldn't even want it in my house"
hahahahahaha...
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