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Do we have any musical people on DC?
Carol Haynes:
Imagine...two quality instruments for the combined price of approximately five sets of Tomastik-Infeld flatwound strings. The mind boggles!
-40hz (January 26, 2015, 08:21 PM)
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That bass is considerably cheaper than my cello strings :-)
40hz:
Imagine...two quality instruments for the combined price of approximately five sets of Tomastik-Infeld flatwound strings. The mind boggles!
-40hz (January 26, 2015, 08:21 PM)
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That bass is considerably cheaper than my cello strings :-)
-Carol Haynes (January 27, 2015, 03:30 AM)
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Yes. Amazing isn't it?
Same goes for electric bass strings. Most top tier strings run between $22 and $35 for a 4-string set in standard lengths and materials. The Tomastiks I mentioned are one of the rare exceptions (Pyramid and Optima being the other two I know about) that run for around $80 on the street. Mostly because they can. (They are very nice strings. But whether they're worth that ~100% premium is something I'll leave for the individual purchasing a set to say.) However, Tomastik (of Vienna mind you!) has its roots in orchestral strings, so it's to be expected I suppose.
Perhaps the fact that most fretted instrument players change their strings more frequently than once every ten or so years has something to do with those lower prices? ;)
Do quality orchestral strings, like those Pirastro Olivs my GF's mother favored (if memory serves) still command those princely sums? :o
Carol Haynes:
These are the strings I am using:
http://www.thestringzone.co.uk/evah-pirazzi-soloist-cello-strings-set
It took a lot of experimenting - I have been through 4 sets of strings (not all that sort of price) in just under two years.
One set I got as a free sample (they were priced over £200 but free was far too expensive for them - they stayed on for 2 days and then were gone - not even useful as spares!), one set I got at 30% cost from the manufacturer (the ones I am using - but I have already had to replace the A string because I wore it out).
These are the ones I would like to try ... http://www.thestringzone.co.uk/larsen-magnacore-cello-strings-set
Also getting through lots of bow rehairs - I play a lot :-)
40hz:
Speaking of which, have you seen the prices of Tokai and Samick instruments lately? Some folks got wind of the fact that some big name manufacturers have at some points in time secretly been using those guys to build their "limited-edition" and even some fill-in production runs, so now there's bidding wars on what used to be seen as cheap asian knockoffs.
So it goes... :-\
-Edvard (January 26, 2015, 09:18 PM)
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Same goes for those flashy and sometimes bizarre Tiesco Del Rey guitars from Japan that you saw in pawn shop windows, or off in the dark corners of music stores back in the 60s and 70s. These were mostly bought by well-meaning but clueless parents who wanted to stop their kid's whining about getting an electric guitar - but who couldn't afford a "professional" instrument like a Gibson, Gretsch, or Fender.
Too bad they usually wound up abandoned in attics until they were completely ruined, or just tossed in the dumpster. They were actually pretty decent guitars for the times. And they had their own unique sound. They're fetching good money these days. Some models (i.e. the Spectrum series) in very good "playable" condition sell for up to $5K (and more) on the collector's market.
I mean LOOK at this thing! Especially the headstock and that multi-colored (hence the name 'Spectrum') accordion-style locking multi-slide switch for a pickup selector. It's so ridiculously bad that it's fantastic! What's not to like?
Do we have any musical people on DC?
There's a company called Eastwood that does affordable but rather unusual guitars that are...I dunno...inspired?...by some of these weird old instruments. This is the Ichiban (trans: Number One!) that captures a lot of that old Tiesco "Cal Surf" sound if you've never heard one:
BTW - I don't know if this was the case everywhere, but most of those old school music shops that were around when I was a kid were only a half step up from being pawn shops. The most popular establishment where I lived even had a permanent card game going in the back "rehearsal" room.
Bunch of scruffy looking VW Bugs and beat up cars parked in front, with impoverished looking long-haired young folks in the showroom. And a lot of comings and goings of business-suited older guys who were driving big black sedans in and out of the fenced-in back parking lot - which was under the watchful eyes of this burly guy called "Nick." There was also an extensive accordion section in the center of the showroom....
Feel free to draw what conclusions you will. Definitely a "family" business. ;D
Ah! Those were the days...Not! ;) 8)
Vurbal:
Speaking of which, have you seen the prices of Tokai and Samick instruments lately? Some folks got wind of the fact that some big name manufacturers have at some points in time secretly been using those guys to build their "limited-edition" and even some fill-in production runs, so now there's bidding wars on what used to be seen as cheap asian knockoffs.
So it goes... :-\
-Edvard (January 26, 2015, 09:18 PM)
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My understanding is that the price hike is actually coming almost entirely from Japan. Some time in the last couple decades a major collector's market developed and speculators started buying them as investments. It probably did start with the pre-Fender lawsuit Tokais, which were somewhat collectible already in the US.
If I'm not mistaken, when Tokai began building Fender instruments for the Japanese markets, they dropped their copies altogether. That would likely have driven prices for their pre-Fender instruments through the roof and sent people who couldn't get their hands on one looking for other "classic" Japanese brands.
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