Review of Jean Aubert (late Penzel-Mueller) plastic clarinet

[philpedler]

Thanks to Ken Ewald, I was able to review a Jean Aubert clarinet. In Penzel-Mueller's later years, they made several partnerships, and I think one of them was with Malerne in France.

See the review and pictures here: https://sites.google.com/clarinetpages.net/clarinetpages/composite/vintage-plastic-composite-clarinets/penzel-mueller-dyna-tone/aubert-jean-late-penzel-mueller?authuser=0

Ken is doing a great job with his retirement hobby! Take a look at his Etsy page here: https://www.etsy.com/shop/KennyWhosKlarinettes
See his video to view what a real clarinet workshop looks like!

[kewald]

Thank you Phil, for not only reviewing the clarinet but also for taking the time to personally teach me more about the art of clarinet work.


 

[DaveLeBlanc]

Ken, hope the sales business is going well. I haven't sold a clarinet in many months, despite being priced at a loss. Wonder why.

[kewald]

I’ve sold one. Very little interest.  No idea why.


My Etsy listings expire soon and I plan to move them to Reverb and maybe a few to Ebay.


I’ve been toying with the idea of posting a video of each instruments tuner analysis in the listing. But have reservations because beginners wouldn’t understand and experienced players could detect the tuning by ear.  Your thoughts on this idea?

[DaveLeBlanc]

I’ve sold one. Very little interest.  No idea why.


My Etsy listings expire soon and I plan to move them to Reverb and maybe a few to Ebay.


I’ve been toying with the idea of posting a video of each instruments tuner analysis in the listing. But have reservations because beginners wouldn’t understand and experienced players could detect the tuning by ear.  Your thoughts on this idea?

I've done some youtube videos along with listings and most of them have comments ragging on my poor playing skills! Haha. It takes a few minutes and never hurts to demonstrate playing ability of something you're trying to sell.

[kewald]

Dave - I post my videos as unlisted on You Tube and then put links to them in the description of the instrument.  Prevents all the comments and targets my audience.  Not that it's done any good!


I wonder if the market for vintage instruments is down because of all the fairly decent cheap stuff coming out of china!  I bought a new Jean Paul Alto Sax on Amazon that was made in china and was set up by the Jean Paul company.  It plays well and only cost around $600 if I recall correctly.

[DaveLeBlanc]

Good point, very possible that high quality, cheap chinese instruments are killing the market.

[kewald]

Good point, very possible that high quality, cheap chinese instruments are killing the market.

So, should we quit?  Or be more picky and only work on higher quality instruments that may have collectible value?  Are there any like that?  Or, sell at lower prices to try to compete?  Lot's of questions for which the answers aren't easy to determine.  With my MBA, I ought to be able to do research and come up with some insights.  But I'm retired and that's too much like work!


It is possible that in time the price of imports may rise, but I wouldn't hold my breath!  I might just hold on to those I've done and wait.  Right now, I'm wondering if spending any more on listing fees is worth it.


I enjoy working on them as a hobby.  Never intended to make a profit, but it would be nice to recoup some of the investment in tooling.

[DaveLeBlanc]

I feel like if you want to make real money, the market is in the REPAIR of saxophones, not necessarily the RESELL.

Pros will pay thousands for a good sax tech. Vintage saxophones are also as a rule worth more than a comparable clarinet, but there are very few deals to be found with saxes, in my experience.

[windydankoff]

LOVE your video, Ken. I learned a few important things, and I envy your well-developed shop. I hope others can find your video easily.

[kewald]

Thanks Windy!