Re: Play-testing at Shows & Conferences


[ Follow Ups ] [ Post Followup ] [ TubeNet BBS ] [ FAQ ]

Posted by Rick Denney on July 26, 2001 at 14:28:21:

In Reply to: Play-testing at Shows & Conferences posted by dp on July 26, 2001 at 13:10:50:

I don't think the horns that make it to the conferences are necessarily the best of the breed. I think they are the instantly saleable, but that is a different standard. So, the good-looking horn goes to the conference and the ugly but sweet horn stays in the shop. This, in addition to Matt's comments.

Occasionally, I'd bet someone like Matt Walters brings one of his project horns to a conference to get it played by lots of good players to see if it needs tweaking. I know that he made changes to his Buescher creation after Army, as did Dave Fedderly to the big York conversion that he had there.

I have bought two horns at conferences. One I had play-tested quietly at Orpheus before the show, and had to wait until they had displayed it before I could buy it from them^H^H^H^Hthe shop who bought it from Orpheus. The other one was the Yamaha 621, and Lee Hipp play-tested it for me before I bought it. But, like Matt, I have played 621's at conferences that were stinkers compared to mine, and I've also played good ones.

The final point is that unless it's a real bowser, one man's mediocre is another man's magic, and vice versa. So, the guys at the stores may have their opinions, but those opinions may differ from whoever will end up buying it.

My concern with buying at a conference is that it's just too hard to hear myself and the horn, and also my brain gets fried after a few horns and I can't tell anything after that. I played Matt's Beuscher at Army after the big York/Rusk, and my mind wasn't on it. I thought it had a warm, mellow sound, but it didn't impress me beyond that. But I was distracted. When I played it again at the store, I radically revised my opinion, and thought it was the best horn in the store.

Rick "who loves the conferences in any case" Denney


Follow Ups: