repair opinion

jbm11dux

Hello,

Please help me with an opinion on my situation.


I purchased a new Selmer Paris Low C Bass Clarinet for my son in April form a company here in the USA. There is crack in the wood on the upper joint and Selmers solution was to replace the upper joint and do a key transfer. There was also a problem with the silver platting coming off two keys.


I have two concerns:


1. A local repair man told me the two joints need to be from the same location and matched or there could be other problems like binding when the weather changes. It sounds reasonable, but i have no expertise in the mater.
2. I paid over $12,000 for a clarinet that now has mismatched serial numbers. It seems like this will have an impact on the resale value (not that i have any plans to sell it, he is 15 and has lofty aspirations). I have no idea how much it would be off but I purchased a new instrument and i think and accelerated depreciation should be covered by either Selmer or the vendor.
 
Selmer has fulfilled its obligation under the warranty that came with the instrument. There is no chance that either the Selmer Company or the vendor would reimburse you for "accelerated depreciation". Even if they would, how would anyone measure that to come up with a value? I would recommend consulting with a repair tech knowledgeable about wooden instruments to find ways to stabilize the humidity inside the case to prevent the wood from drying and cracking again---especially if you live in a dry climate.
 
Also, older Selmer wooden basses were in a rigid Plywood case, with the ends of the joints bearing on the Plywood former from which the fabric interior was hung. If you made a habit of plopping the case down on its ends (i.e., standing the case up tall), the repeated impacts could cause cracking in the unbanded ends of the joints.

The only new case I've seen in many a year was one of the foam and fabric ones, so it may not be a problem with the newer cases. Nevertheless, it's something to keep in mind.
 
The instrument is (and was) repaired or the part replaced under warrenty, so that's good. The value of the instrument actually doesn't reduce at all, it's just the resale value and that depends on many things. I don't know about any company giving a partial refund because a warrenty repair might reduce resale value. I'd say the resale value is not consistent enough to say it is lower now. There aren't that many used Selmer Privilege low C bass clarinets for sale that they have a specific used market value, so you can even end up selling it for more than someone with all original parts sold it for.

For peace of mind I'd recommend to let it go and also in general, with the exception of some old ones thta are bought specifically for collectors, etc. don't consider musical instruments as an investment at all. You usually buy them to use them even if, at wosrt case, you lose the entire value of the instrument.
 
FWIW, you can determine resale value of the horn by going to eBay and looking at the sold ads for horns that are in approximately in the same condition as yours. In probably 90% or more of the time, the prices people are getting will be considerably lower than the price of a new version of the same horn.

I think you're looking at the problem from the wrong angle. The manufacturer's warranty doesn't ensure the value of what you've purchased. It just ensures that if something breaks, it'll be repaired to "like new." Examples:

* I'm a computer tech, IRL. I do warranty repair work for a variety of manufacturers. Most of the parts I get are refurbished and I don't mind because they they work as well as or better than the original parts and they're still warrantied for the same amount of time.
* Also, IRL, I've had my 1 year old car hit twice in the past year. All the repairs were done with refurbished parts. Again, this doesn't affect my warranty at all and my vehicle (will, when it's back from the shop) works as good as it did before the accidents. Yes, this will affect resale, but probably not by much. It doesn't really matter much to me because I plan on either driving it until I grind it into the ground or until the warranty expires and the repairs are too costly. That's in 9 years.

A final FWIW: there are an awful lot of instruments out there that are assigned a monetary value of $X. Some of those instruments might perform better -- and sometimes a LOT better -- than other horns valued $X. I call this "Playability Value." This does work in the opposite direction, too: horns with a monetary value of $Y aren't necessarily better than horns valued $X.

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

I got an e-mail from a dealer, last week. He said he had a late 1890s Conn alto sax he wanted to sell and he asked me the value. Answer: low. It has extremely low playability value and there's not enough folks that would want it for the collectability value -- and, if you weren't specifically a Conn collector, you'd much rather have an AE Sax instrument from that era.
 
MrDibbs said:
I'd have expected them to put the same serial number on the new joint.
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That would have been dishonest, as it IS a replacement part, and not the original.

If the engine on your car is replaced with a new factory engine, it will also have a different serial number, and effect collectibility. Most folks would be happy with a new factory replacement part, unless you didn't buy the car to drive it.

Did you buy it to play it or store for a future owner?
 
MrDibbs said:
I'd have expected them to put the same serial number on the new joint.
Click to expand...

I believe that some makers or repairers, when adding the original serial number to a replacement joint, add an asterisk to indicate that the joint is a replacement for the original. I had an R13 with such a mark once. It didn't affect the playability, and when I sold it I found it didn't affect the price either.
 
I know someone who says (and I believe him) that he purchased a Selmer low C from Emilio and it developed a crack. He was offered a replacement of the defective joint, and refused this offer, based on the reasons that you cited above. After some quibbling, he got a replacement.

Given the brief period of time that you had the instrument, I don't think asking for a replacement is unreasonable.

Note: He decided that he wasn't happy with the Selmer because it constantly needed adjustment. He sold it and purchased a Buffet, which he is satisfied with.
 
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