TubaForum.net

On one of the threads here I could have sworn someone posted a current price list on Meinl-Weston/ BS tubas on here but I can not find it?

Anyone have it?

cthuba wrote: ↑Mon Aug 01, 2022 10:36 am On one of the threads here I could have sworn someone posted a current price list on Meinl-Weston/ BS tubas on here but I can not find it?

Anyone have it?

It’s posted here as well as one other location:

viewtopic.php?p=47928#p47928

I got a "You are not authorized to read this forum" message.

I think the thread your referring to got very political and was axed.

This should work.

viewtopic.php?p=48180&hilit=6450#p48180

LargeTuba wrote: ↑Mon Aug 01, 2022 5:45 pm I think the thread your referring to got very political and was axed.

This should work.

viewtopic.php?p=48180&hilit=6450#p48180

Thanks for finding that… I didn’t notice the other one had been booted to the cornfield.

Yeah, I instigated that by asking where these guys were getting their much lower prices from. I was told that the numbers came from "the price list" which completely baffled me. I don't like M-W tubas enough to have remembered the opening of the "showroom" and the whole direct sales thing. I probably will never visit that showroom, but the pricelist is a handy thing to have a copy of. Thanks to @jtuba for sharing it.

the elephant wrote: ↑Tue Aug 02, 2022 7:16 am Yeah, I instigated that by asking where these guys were getting their much lower prices from. I was told that the numbers came from "the price list" which completely baffled me. I don't like M-W tubas enough to have remembered the opening of the "showroom" and the whole direct sales thing. I probably will never visit that showroom, but the pricelist is a handy thing to have a copy of. Thanks to @jtuba for sharing it.

There (obviously) was one Miraphone (yep: not B&S/M-W) tuba I wished that I owned - and eventually did something about that.

B&S/M-W: I have a pre-reunification/handmade/genuine version of one of the subsequent in-house mock-ups, but have no interest in the mock-up version. I also own another model which has since been adulterated to the point that I would not be interested in a new one of those, either. I JUST recently picked up ONE other (barely) post-unification product that they manufactured. It was a model that has been widely badmouthed, due to (simply) some arithmetic errors in the valveset (which I remedied - resulting in a wonderful instrument). Any of the rest of their products - I would certain buy - to resell (as many others seem to like them). Over most of the last decade, there were several opportunities to pick up a M-W 195 for considerably less than I paid for my Mira-98, but - well (having played both models) - that's not what I wanted to own.

point:
Previous to you stating your own desires/wishes, it just hadn't occurred to me that I really am not interested in personally owning any of their currently-manufactured products. (that having been said: The more time goes on, the more refined my set of equipment has become...and - perhaps...??, from maker-to-maker - the more generic/vanilla many new models of tubas have become.)

re: cutting out middlemen
Being that I never have particularly considered the brick-and-mortar "high-end brand-new tubas" bidness to be a good business in which to be (dents/scratches/expensive-dogs-not-moving-and-collecting-dust/shipping-damage/the I'm-returning-this "testers"/etc.) I don't personally find this to be particularly troubling. What will be interesting will be (since this particular German pricing is now closer to the pricing of the better Chinese instruments - as well as being closer to the overpricing of the crappier Chinese instruments) seeing what happens to Chinese pricing (if anything) as a result of this.

parts:
Since ______ ______ _ _ _, the parts situation has - defacto - become the rough equivalent of (in general) the Chinese parts situation...so I guess both prefer that their products be considered non-customizable and disposable (??)

I'm more interested in seeing how long we will have access to anything made in China. I see that (at least temporarily) coming to an end in the next few years as the current round of saber-rattling turns into sabers being drawn. The times are changing, and what might be happening in the next few years scares the hell out of me.

And I like that some of the Germans seem interested in making their horns more competitive with the best of the Chinese wares. I have always disliked middlemen. I have always tried to buy directly from makers when possible. I even buy a lot of my groceries from local husbandmen. This is why I have also stayed out of reselling instruments. It is a losing proposition in the long run unless you decide to go into it in a huge way, and you can't do that with just tubas. I have zero interest in selling Vito clarinets or Holton trumpets. Yech…

Weakness and rulers' under-the-table deals are often what trigger wars.

' pretty sure the USA will not be warring with China.

Rather, ' pretty sure China will own the USA.

If I'm lucky, I'll be dead by then.

====================================================

Student clarinets made in the USA:
- Wisconsin-vintage Vito/Holton were simply a plastic Normandy/Noblet, which are OK and reliable. I'd still (even though we're still overrun with plastic clarinets) probably snag a shiny-plastic/good-plating/good-case one for $40, if OTC (pawn shop/yard sale/thrift store/etc.) and not shipped.
- Indiana-vintage Bundy/Signet clarinets, I believe I tracked down their origin to an obscure old French maker (seems apparent to me: tooling purchased and shipped over here by Frank Bundy), as the keywork is identical. Their build quality is equally good, but their tone hole sizes are larger, which define them as more difficult to people with small fingers (read: "some kids") to cover.
- Henkin/Artley/Armstrong - OK, I suppose...Buffet-like

others:
Buffet B-12 plastic - formerly made in the Schreiber factory, and "OK" (never amazed me, but I picked them up to flip, because their name sold them).
Buffet E-11 (also "International", yes?) wood - always tried to avoid selling those, due to the quality of the wood (filled here-and-there, and dyed with black dye) and glued-in plastic tone holes. I believe they were also Schreiber-made.
current Buffet plastic - China, I believe...possibly the same plant as another with which I'm familiar

Yamaha student clarinets:
so-so Buffet knock-offs, imo. I would pick them up for the same reason that I would pick up a shiny student Buffet (so many yama-bots, out there)
current plastic are made (not in China, but) some third-world Asian country (can't remember which one, but stamped on them).

Wisconsin-made Holton trumpets/trombones - Why?
Wisconsin-made Holton double horns - have their following, but sorta crummy (build), in my view. Most old ones' rotors are toast.

I was given this list at SERTEC, shared some prices on FB and people thought this was a joke, when I informed them that their used prices with dents were much more expensive than a new horn. I talked to a couple shop owners who have been hurt by this. These prices are what the shops would buy the horns at, but would have to list them at MAP.

The Chinese market really put burdens on Buffet on terms of tubas. Why buy a tuba that is twice as much as an Eastman, which is what all the cool kids are doing (not digging on the horns, but all the cool people seem to be endorsing them and their horns play quite decent). To stay afloat, the Buffet company decided to sell tubas directly from their showroom to have competitive prices. This put a bind on local shops. I would venture that this was a deciding factor on why BBC decided to close (one of many reasons I’m sure).

This is going to create a very interesting and potentially sticky situation to the used horn market. It will be interesting on how it plays out

My question is this:

Which manufacturers never relied upon a dealer arrangent to begin with?

Willson?
Rudy Meinl?
Definitely not Buffet Group until now
Also not Miraphone
Anyone else?

Just seems like "buy direct" was always the case for some...

Rudolf Meinl was Tuba Exchange as the North American retailer back in the 80s/90s, iirc.

I thought Willson was Custom Music at one point?

If I still had my old TUBA journals this would be easy to verify.

Decades ago, I recall Rudolph Meinl being sold by Custom Music, and later being offered by Woodwind/Brasswind.
Willson instruments were imported and distributed by DEG Music until the WWBW bankruptcy (correct?). I believe (is this correct as well?) - at this point - DEG had a bunch of instruments floor-planned at WWBW, DEG possibly subsequently wasn’t able to pay their bill, so my understanding is that Willson dropped them and moved over to Getzen as their US importer, at that time.

https://www.tubashowroom.com/

Click on the instrument for details and price...