Posted by Dale no I am NOT Fred Sanford Phelps on July 05, 2000 at 11:04:10:
In Reply to: Re: Re: Re: What's wrong with St. Petersburg Tubas posted by Rick Denney on July 04, 2000 at 10:25:25:
Just a couple of comments,
1) I read somewhere that the dealer in Detroit sells 300 tubas a year. That's a lot of tubas, but I am SURE that less than 20 are "York-o-phones" - AND I suspect that the majority of pros seeking a big orchestral CC are just as money-conscious as the rest of us. Hirsbrunner makes 3-4 at a time, perhaps as often as yearly, Nirschl the same if that, I dunno about M-W or B&S. Think of 6/4 tubas in the same way that Road and Track readers think of Ferrari's, and we put this topic in perspective.
2) I do NOT think that the russian tuba discussion comes up because there is a "necessary price point", rather I feel it comes up because of the old "bait-and-switch" marketing scam which has been going on for years; it goes something like this:
* oh, lookie, brand new thousand dollar tubas !!! (can you believe it???)
* oh, if you want valves that work they need to be honed (add $$)
* oh if you want a "machine" that works you have to replace it (add $$)
* oh if you want those leaks sealed up, that's extra...
I'm sure you get the idea.
3) Part of the reason this comes up is because it IS discussed so often, and some hopeful person still wants to believe that you can obtain good merchandise for less than half of what the market will usually bear. That's really not a "necessary price point" - it's shameless marketing, and instead of calling it for what it is, people endorse it!
4) Adjusted for inflation, good tubas are less expensive than even 5-10 years ago, so the claim that we "need cheap tubas" really doesn't add up.
5) PT Barnum said....well, maybe I don't need to repeat it....