From: Bill Price Date: Mon, 30 Aug 1999 11:48:53 Subject: Re: Re: =?iso-8859-1?Q?Chromatic=5FRattle=5F&=5FH=5Fohner=B4s=5F? At 10:04 PM 8/29/99 -0500, john thaden wrote: about manufactures not knowing the formulas for their competitor's reeds, and added:
>From an article discussing some of the mysteries of fine prehistoric >metallurgy, I was led to conclude that it isn't all that easy to properly >describe alloys by scientific tests. Is knowledge of the fractional >elemental makeup of an alloy sufficient to be able to reproduce it? Aren't >their matters of crystal size/structure?
...and not specifically to John, but to all in the discussion of reed material, I submit:
Fellow analysts--you give manufacturer's far too much credit. Manufactures begin by putting a product on the market which brings in income, so that they can continue. If it sells well, they stick with it, looking only for ways to offer more, similar products which fit their manufacturing process. Manufacturers usually only change when required, either by dissatisfied customers, or by waning business. They would not normally go and look for a theoretical discussion of reed (or any other) material, they would go to the shelves of suppliers, try a little of what's available, normally sticking with "what everyone else has used," and see what works best (easiest, cheapest, with reasonable results) in their production setup. They might try some new or esoteric "off the shelf" metal stock, but to think of them spending money on metallurgical R&D when they won't do a dime's worth of QC does not follow logic.
Which seems to make most sense:
"What shall we use for reed material?"
"Same as we're getting now. No need to change what works."
...or...
"What shall we use for reed material?"
"Oh, let's hire a lot of costly scientists and theorize for a while, then burn some more money testing, and spring some new improved metal on the market."
Think of:
- -New Fender Guitars - -New Fender Amplifiers - -how no one can match the "magic sound" of the earlier guitar pickups and harp mikes, - -and the constant overuse of the word "vintage."
Unless the guy who thought up "New Coke" has gone to Deutschland, I doubt you'll see "new reed material" coming from there. Conversely, if someone can offer some sound reasoning to the "Pepsi" folks in Brasil--some science, some theory--some _evidence_ with regard to reed design, size, thickness, hardness, temper, whatever, those folks --the ones who are seeing their hard work pay off--might be likely to experiment and listen to the market more than the "we're number one--they're just a flash in the pan" folks yodelling down their lederhosen. Just my inflated two cents' worth.
Manufacturers, like water and electricity, take the path of least resistance.
