Not all of my stories happened years ago. This one is less than a week old, and touches a point that is important.
Like anyone, I appreciate a good deal. I see the same thing at a cheaper price, and I figure that even with a lower quality, it's a good way to get started. However, in the instrument world, this can lead to more problems than solutions. It is definitely a world where, overall, you get what you pay for.
About a week ago, a new customer contacted me to talk about his clarinet (I'm using this term because it's what it was called by the people who made it). The cork on the top joint had come loose and needed replacing, but more than that, he wasn't even sure it was a clarinet worth the cost of a new joint cork. Fact is, he had purchased it off someone for $25, and was unable to figure out anything about the "brand name" on it. He told it to me, and my search capabilities came up with less than glowing recommendations
Truth is, I was unable to find anything about the company other than they were being sold through some very low cost sites, and the only info about the manufacture was the blurbs about the instruments themselves. This is something that always makes me nervous to work on. There are many knock offs of good instruments, but then there are knock off of knock off of........ until it's an instrument in appearance only.
Still hopeful I could help him some, we scheduled an appointment, and he brought the "instrument in question" over for a diagnosis. Once I opened the case, I immediately congratulated him on purchasing a $25 case that came with a toy clarinet in it. Nothing about this instrument spoke well. The very cheap plastic the clarinet was made of was very light in weight and felt way too delicate. Beginner clarinets are often made of plastic, but the composition of the plastic usually makes the instrument heavy enough to mean it's got high durability (a plus when the beginner is a child)
The keys on this were bright and shiny, but there were many things about them that were unsettling. They seemed out of proportion to the instrument, and the shiny coating felt more like a think chrome than the more durable nickle finish.
At this point, I put it together and tried to play it. the joints were all loose but not so much that it would fall apart. With the cork grease on, I could slide everything around way too easily. Where I live, the high humidity usually means the corks are tight and need to be adjusted thinner. This was the other way around. The sound that came out of this was somewhere between a clarinet tone and a dying yak. It was harsh and unfocused. I had to fight for every note, and could feel the cheap keys bending under my fingers as I tried to put more pressure than I should need.
Then came the funny moment. I told him how I could get it to play, but the harsh tone would always be there. I also told him that it would cost more to fix than it was worth. He agreed, with no reluctance, and I started to disassemble it to put the instrument back in the case. As I started to take the bell off, the plastic tore apart in my hands, and the top most portion of the bell, including the metal ring, stayed on the bottom joint tenon.
I want to stress that, at that point, I was not trying to break anything. I was telling him that it would make a good lamp, and was trying to simply take things apart. When it broke, he looked at the pieces in my hand and even chuckled a bit. "Lamp it is" was what I recall hearing at that moment. He then asked if I had any clarinets for sale, and I sold him a Selmer Bundy student model. Still black plastic, but a make of repute. I've been in contact with him since then, and he's already off and running, learning and enjoying the clarinet he now has.
Moral of the story: Just because it's cheap doesn't mean it's any good. If it's cheap and a brand that has a history of quality, jump on it. But, if it's cheap but you can't verify it's worth anything, then you are getting exactly what you pay for, or could even be overpaying
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