 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: Klarnetisto
Date: 2014-06-13 20:07
To discuss: I recall that a new Buffet professional quality clarinet cost $440 (list price) when I was a student about 40 years ago. Per an online inflation calculator, that would be $2,115.86 in 2014 funds. But now the MSLP is $5337 for the R13 with nickel silver keys, or $3200 offered at discount by one of the large sellers. Why are they so much more expensive now? Because grenadilla has become more scarce? But the "greenline" (grenadilla sawdust mixed with resin) costs the same.
Klarnetisto
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Author: cyclopathic
Date: 2014-06-13 21:43
it's Buffet man!
Market for higher quality woodwinds shrank and many mfg are out of business. Therefore they charge because they can. This may be the reason?
Post Edited (2014-06-13 21:44)
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Author: TJTG
Date: 2014-06-13 21:45
Because music supplies are marked at a premium, these companies now have HUGE financial obligations to their previous and current employees, and wood supplies are changing.
Also, the clarinet is the most bell-and-whistle riddled instrument with voodoo equipment and modifications. Money is better spent on lessons and practice, but people insist their $500 bell makes them sound just magical.
Post Edited (2014-06-13 21:46)
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Author: Paul Aviles
Date: 2014-06-13 21:48
I think you are mistaken with your pricing. I bought my first top of the line horn (Selmer 10G, and R13s were the same price) in '76 for $750. This WAS the discounted price NOT the MSRP.
....................Paul Aviles
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Author: clarinetguy ★2017
Date: 2014-06-13 22:17
Klarinetisto's figures are correct. I got a new R-13 in 1971, and the price was somewhere around $400 from a local music dealer. In fact, I happened to come across the receipt a few days ago.
As far as the enormous price increases are concerned, there are probably a number of causes that have been stated by others. I would think that wood supplies would be a major one. Still, prices of some other instruments have also shot up faster than the rate of inflation. About 14 years ago, we bought our son a professional model Holton french horn for about $2,400. Today, that same horn costs about $4,100. According to the inflation calculator, it should only cost about $3,300.
David Blumberg discussed this issue recently when he mentioned Yamaha clarinets. I really don't know the answer, but I'll share some of my memories from the 70s and 80s. Those of you in the retail music business can probably fill in more details.
When I was in high school in the early 70s, there were a number of local music dealers that stocked quality higher-end instruments. I don't recall any deep-discount mail order outfits, although there might have been some. The local dealers did some discounting, but they also stood behind their products. If there were issues, these stores employed repair techs who could easily fix most problems.
At some point--I think it might have been in the mid 70s--the deep discounters started popping up. One of the first might have been Interstate Music Supply (more about them shortly). Having mentioned them, I don't want to disparage them in any way. I don't recall having any dealings with them, and they might be a very reputable business.
As a young band teacher in the late 70s, I recall getting their catalogs every year. The local dealers were stunned by the discounters. There was no way they could possibly afford to match those deep discount prices. I recall having a conversation with a friend in the retail music business--it must have been around 1980--and he was furious. With some anger in his voice, he described how those businesses employed low-paid employees to pull expensive instruments (such as Buffet R-13 clarinets) off the shelf, put them in boxes, and ship them. He pointed out that those places offered no service if something went wrong. For better or for worse, the discounters didn't leave the scene, and they changed the retail music business forever. We all know the rest of the story.
I was just looking through some old files, and for some reason, I saved a 1987-88 School Discount Catalog from Interstate Music Supply. Here are some of their prices from back then:
Buffet R-13 Retail: $1,710 Net: $1,039
Leblanc LL Retail: $1,475 Net: $850
Selmer Paris Wood Pro. Model (model not stated) Retail: $1,775 Net: $1,165
Interstate Music is still around, now known as Cascio Interstate Music. They still sell Buffet R-13s, but the deep discount days are long gone. Their current price for an R-13 is $3,202.50.
Post Edited (2014-06-13 23:19)
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Author: Lee
Date: 2014-06-14 00:11
In 1954 my R-13 cost $295.95. I can't afford to replace it now.
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Author: Bruno
Date: 2014-06-14 00:11
In business circles it's called "What the traffic will bear" but there's a large element of inflation there as well.
When my R13 cost $700, new Cadillacs cost $8,000. The same car is now over $50,000. My '76 Benz S cost me $17,000. A 2014 model of that same car is $98,000++.
Reeds used to cost $5.00/a box of ten.
Sic transit gloria mundi!
bruno>
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