|
|
Cliff's Comments on the Current SceneIt seems to have become popular today to make repairing musical instruments appear harder to do than it really is. Even, from one repairman to another. I don't understand the point of this. Is it so that the newer repair people will be scared off from doing certain jobs and/or be intimidated by elder Repairmen? I hope we aren't all becoming THAT insecure. Is it to be able to charge more for certain jobs or even maybe to stop younger people from entering the trade? Or, is there a big shortage of work to do?My job is to make repairing band instruments as simple, straight forward and practical as can be, so that we can ALL justify our labor, time and talent on the lower priced instruments that have been constantly entering the market for the last 50 years or so, and of course, that will work on the 'step up', 'first line' and 'pro' horns, too. I see many things going on here, especially lately, regarding all these new Asian model instruments. How many years do you think it will take the Chinese to make as many lousy horns as have already been made and fixed by this country? AND STILL, WE HAVE ALL SURVIVED and are making a living in the process. I see no point in whining about their supposed low quality and even threatening to withhold your services and not fix them. As far as the so-called lack of parts goes; we had the same problem getting parts in the early years, when most horns were made here, because there weren't any parts to get. To get parts, you scavenged parts off salvaged older horns, so that you WOULD HAVE parts to repair with. Or, you took a tap or a die and you made a part function properly, or sometimes built one from scratch. That IS what a Repairman DOES. Just changing and/or installing new parts is NOT REALLY REPAIRING, in the Big Picture, it is Parts Replacement, plain and simple. No repairing is performed. How do you make money NOT WORKING ON SOMETHING? I can see a retailer being upset, over the loss of a sale but, this cheap horn thing is NOT NEW and it is not going to stop and some will get better and some will eventually disappear, AS BEFORE. Actually, this is more the American manufacturers problem. Not yours. You can Capitalize in this situation. You can sympathize or empathize with the inexperienced buyer. These newer horns will have to be made better, and they will have to charge more for them, or they won't be able to stay in business. They just started at the wrong price point this time. A Repairman fixes things that don't work for one reason or another. We are not engineers, designers nor manufacturers. Although at times we have to make things stronger when they break or clean and re-solder something, when in production it was missed. Maybe, even re-bend a key for proper action, tighten loose key action on rods or between posts. But, our 'Main Job' is that we are supposed to fix whatever is wrong with the horn, whether by wear or damage, when it comes to us. What do you think it is going to accomplish NOT to fix something? The people have ALREADY spent the money, help them and get paid. There will be a next purchase. I remember hoping for work to come in sometimes. If these horns are as bad as some make them out to be, you are going to be busy fixing them and "getting paid" for it. The smart cookie here, is the guy or gal that charges right out there and mixes with this latest attempt to make and sell people cheaper horns. The sellers motive has to be, hoping to sell more by doing so. You know, it is hard for a lot of the old timers to imagine a student model horn costing $750 or more. Who would-a thought! Some of these horns are going to get better, some already ARE, and when they do, who is going to get the business? The one who wouldn't even work on them or the one who has tried to help fix the problems along the way and tried to deliver a workable horn to the customer? Where do you think the customer is going to go for their NEXT horn? I remember when Harry and Sid Pedler, William Frank, and J.W. York tried to fill this void, followed by several others. Frank Holton and later the first effort Getzen seemed to get a handle on it. And yes, I sold a ton of Getzen instruments back then. You could almost tie them to a car and drag them down the street a block or two and pick them up a play them. Great, sturdy dependable horns. Then, the American Standard evolved into a King Cleveland, Cavalier and Pan American became known as the Conn Director. These were called "Third Grade" horns and not for the grade of school. This started back with the metal clarinets from Italy, some of which may have had the holes drilled in the wrong place from the way some of them played. We're not talking about the good ones; like King, Conn, Holton and Noblet made. As time moved along, then it was the Bake-a-lite, rubber and plastic bodied clarinets of many builders including the Resonite and Reso-Tone, which finally evolved to using ABS which most now use. But, things are always changing. Mr. LeBlanc said at a NAMM convention in New York (circa 1959), "Clarinets should be made from one of two materials; wood or metal!" And how about the people in Elkhart and Elkhorn who made all those horns for Montgomery-Ward and Sears, at the time, "One of the largest retailers of musical instruments". Then, came the first wave of Japanese instruments, remember how bad they were and all those red spotted mouthpipes? Then, the Taiwanese and East Germans, just starting out. Now it's the Chinese. SO What? And all of them are going to get better and better, too. Because, if they don't, they're Gonna be GONE. But for now, "you gotta make hay while the sun is shining!" What are you going to do, move? Like the band instrument companies? You can make more money RIGHT WHERE YOU ARE, if you use this "floundering time" to establish yourself as a Good, Knowledgeable, Capable and caring REPAIRMAN. Where would you take your instrument? To a place where they wouldn't even look at it and sent you away, or a place that tried to help and serve you, explaining the problems with the horn to justify the expense and making it possible for you to do your job of playing the horn, whatever kind it is. We can't all work on pre-war Bachs. Well, eventually they got most of the parts problems solved and they will this time, too. When you get these horns in for repair, be sure to show and explain to the customer the problems, and be specific. Don't make judgements and call bad names, that is NOT your job. Make sure they understand that YOU wish it was a better horn, too. Because, it would make your job as a Repairman easier and you don't want to be the bad guy in the picture and besides you've got plenty of other work to do on all those good OLD American made horns. If it is real new, they may want to take it back where they bought it, but, that is THEIR decision. (I suppose you could offer to take it back for them; No, bad idea.) The factories will eventually get the message. Not from you, nor from your dealer, but from the person actually paying the piper for the product via their dealer and/or distributor. That is who they should be really listening too. And then, they will either upgrade or disappear.......
|
|
