two. Welcome to the clarinet ninja podcast. My name is Jay Hassler and I'm here
doing my best to bring you the finest in clarinet information and entertainment. Today we've got part two of the
conversation with Josh Goo and Lin Snder. If you haven't checked out part one, please do that, but listen to this
first. Doesn't matter what order you listen to it in. Josh Goo if you don't know. Quick start clarinet. Lynn Snider
if you don't know. Queen Reed, all those links are down in the description. also links to me, Clanet Ninja Dojo. Check it
out if you're just getting started. You're coming back after a long break or you've been playing for years, there is
a space for you in the clarinet ninja dojo. And it's a great place to learn the clarinet to refine what you already
know on the clarinet and to really just get your trajectory shooting straight up, getting better, having a great time
doing it. Please check it out and if you haven't, like, subscribe, five stars.
Would you do it? All right. Here's the end of the conversation between Lynn Snider, Josh Goo, and me.
Cool. Lynn. Yeah. Somebody's got a little bit of money. Like, you know, a few hundred. What do
you suggest they think about getting? Okay. This is where like if it's just like if if it doesn't have to be a mouthpiece, right?
No, it doesn't have to be a mpiece. I This is where I chime in with the get some lessons. Go take some lessons. But
we've already said that. So, I'm going to say another thing. And the other thing is go get yourself some tickets to
an orchestra or a group of your choice and get as good a seat as you can get
and go listen to those clarinets and then go talk to them after the concert. Like spend your money on an experience
that is a live musical one where you can potentially be inspired and you can go
there and you can maybe meet somebody and make a connection and talk with somebody. And I mean when you grab a
clarinetist after a show and if you are like hey what mouthpiece do you use? What reads do you you know people want
to talk about their equipment or their warm-up routine or you know any of those kind of burning questions that we all
have that I think that's a great use for your money. I think that's a really good use for your money. that nobody can do
anything uh that for free that benefits them if they want to talk to me then
tell me they think I sound good playing the clarinet because you know what you've got my attention and I'll tell you anything you want to
know about what it is that I'm doing whether that's going to be helpful or not that'll be helpful but but give it to but like I think that that's
something that we forget like all of us like if you walk up to a very famous clarinet player and you say I love the way you play the clarinet there's no end
to how much that feels good you know and and that yeah what you just did made a difference to me. I meant to go hear
live music last week and I didn't. I wanted to go hear Ken Papowski play because he was doing the Bird with Strings uh at Birdland and uh I didn't
go and I and I wonder I know why I didn't go cuz I was really busy all week and I was tired. But then I think ah
just go just go like that. I mean you I mean New York City is expensive and if I
don't go and do things that are exclusive to like what you can do in New York City, why am I living here, right? I mean
you you know when you have a chance to hear an eminent clarinetist of our time, you know, would would you have missed
out on seeing Mozart if you could have back in the like if somebody said hey
on ticket master you can get some tickets to go here Mozart. You wouldn't have missed it. You want to put on your
wig and gone. Yeah, true. Maybe I Maybe it's the wig that I'm missing.
Maybe I'd feel more comfortable out in the world. This mid-range thing. Like, let's say somebody wants to buy a new case. I'm fascinated with obviously
nothing beats the Jace if it existed. But, but what kind of case do you have,
Lynn? I have the BAM. I don't even know what it's called, but it's like the double click case. It's very thin. Um, which is
why I have to have my like I can't fit my reads in there very well. So, like that's part of the Tupperware issue, but
um it's the very thin double case and I think that it was originally meant to like zip into the base clarinet pack.
Oh, I know what that one is. Yeah. Not too many people actually have that one. I love it. I love it. I got it at a very
good price and um and it's bams. It just And it zips, right? I don't want latches. I want a zip. Um
interesting. So, Right. Because I want I want latches. I Yeah. fail. Like it could fail and then I've got my
luggage strap, you know, I'm car, you know, I've got like a bow trying to hold my clarinet case together. Well, it's funny. I've never had a latch
fail. I have had zippers fail. Yeah. Okay. Because because I feel like zippers are going to give you 10 years.
Okay. And and then a zipper going around a corner is going to get messed up. Yeah, that's true. But so far, I've had
this case for like 15 years, and where's some wood I can knock on? It's It's okay. I don't like it. I don't like it when my
statements are proven totally wrong immediately after this.
Well, but but here's what I love. You got a very thin case that's so thin that you can't fit your reed Tupperware in
it. So, you got to carry a totally another bag. Yes. Seems like you wiped out the the
It's an opportunity for a fashion situ. I mean, to be honest, there's a lot of accessorizing and color coordinating
that can happen, which pleases me greatly. Well, but and I think that that's
something that that is undervalued is that being pleased with the looks of our
equipment is is an important thing, right? I mean, sometimes I play on a black luggage because I I want to look like Michael Knight in Nightrider and
then other times I I want a gold one because I want to look like I I have money, you know?
And that's not that's actually not false. I that has happened. Not the part about want having money, but I
there are sometimes I feel like I I I want a different look and it's only to entertain myself, right? Because I don't
think liature does anything. I I do. It holds on the read and and it allows it to vibrate and within a a
large swath there's differences, but none that are so big a read a read choice can't be made to accommodate the
difference. But uh what kind of case do you have, Josh? Yeah, I'm rocking just the cheap ProTek
double case that I got like 10 years ago now when I first got my first a clarinet
and needed a double case. And it's I've definitely been tempted by cases and and
I have also brainstormed a a very cool case design that's a music stand built
into your case at the same time. Uh and also have made no progress on actually
making that a reality, but Do you have a garage? I don't know why you haven't. It's true. Yeah. I have no excuse.
I'm saying. Yeah. But but the Protek case, it's got the backpack straps. It has room for my
music and iPad. It's got the front case where I can put all the other accessories and stuff and it's served me
well and I haven't really needed a a need to change. Yeah. Well, I'm the case
I carry most of the time is my this little Protek case and I I don't bother with the with the double case unless I'm
going to be playing my a clarinet. And then I've got a triple case. I got one of those boner triple cases that you
know my E flat. But then I uh cuz I've got a two talking about getting I've got
a two-piece Eflat that there's a crack in the tone hole that's in the tenon.
So, I had uh Melanie Wong, the last thing she did for me before she left,
which I haven't forgiven her for, is sort of make it go together. Maybe she
didn't do that. No, she didn't do that. She didn't even fix it before she left. That's why I'm so mad. Krista Bertrren did it. She put it together and said,
"Just don't take it apart. Just don't take it apart." But then the problem is I only have that Marcus Boner case to
put it in. So, then I've got to carry it everywhere I go when and this gets very heavy. So
finally, thanks to Michael Loen Stern, I got the the new Marcus Bona Eflat case,
which was a couple hundred bucks, but is super small. And when when I go like play Broadway and need my Eflat
clarinet, this small case, this small Protek plus that small case works really really well in a in a bass claret case,
right? Because that that is what everybody needs, right? Is a bass clarinet case that can also hold a B
flat and or A, which Weissman makes for like a million dollars. Yeah, it's a great case. super heavy. They're
great. But also, tell me if I'm crazy, I want a case that
opens on my lap. They won't slip off. That's that's one of the most important functionalities of a case ever.
And the the Weissman cases I find to be a little bit unwieldy. Mhm. Uh but man, they're beautiful and they
go on airplanes. So cool. They look It's like you're an architect. You've got all of your plan, you know, your plans are all rolled up
in there. I mean, you could be anything getting on a plane. Everybody's like, "Who's that?" They've got that. What's in that case? It's very cool. It's
there's a aura of mystery about those cases which but I would I would I don't
have one because my clarinet I would drop it. I would it would roll right out. It would roll off my lap.
Yeah. Yeah. I that that would be a challenge for me. And what if you don't need your bass clarinet because what what one of the challenges
for me is switching cases. I there's so much stress in switching cases. If I if I go from this into my
double case and I I might forget part of my clarinet. One time, this is the first
time I publicly told the story. I showed up at Radio City to play and the um
there's two chairs that I was subbing on. One had A and B flat clarinet, so I needed both. And the other one just had
B flat clarinet. And I managed to show up with half my A clarinet and half my B
flat clarinet. And they went together incredibly easily. And I played a scale
and thought, "Oh my, what am I going to do? There's no fixing this, right?
Fortunately, at Radio City, there's lots of people that sub there and there's lots of clarinets backstage and the
person sitting me behind me had an extra B flat clarinet. So, I played that one. But it was I feel like it messed up my
ears for about 6 months cuz that scale that I played was so bizarre. And so,
but but that comes from switching cases. And now I'm terrified to ever do it again. I actually, in a very OCD way, I
count I have got everything numbered. I've got 1 2 3 4 five pieces. I've got my recase
and I I and then I check it on the train. I don't know what I'm going to do when I'm on the train. Like I can't I can't necessarily fix it. But yeah, so
that that's an issue. Yeah, because I've got I've got all the cases. I've I've got a BAM double case u and I've got the
bona triple case and then I've got the single case. I think that's all I have. Somebody wants to invest. money is no
object, which was for me to say they've got thousands of dollars,
which pretty much puts us in the criteria of buying a clarinet, let's say.
So, my question is, if we're going to spend a lot of money,
what what what considerations are we making? First of all, does anyone have an idea other than a new clarinet? I have kind of a crazy idea that just
popped in my head if we're going really like thousands of dollars. Uh, and this is inspired by a student of mine at the
university that I teach at who was a retired doctor and decided I'm going to
get a degree in music. So, that could be an option is is go to go to music school
and get really intensive or also just a lot of lessons. Uh, could could be kind
of along the lines too to to keep that theme running too. Well, I'm curious to know actually this just popped into my head. What What does
an overhaul on a clarinet cost where you guys live? Yeah, that's a good question. Probably
around a thousand depending. Yeah. Yeah. Yep. I've got thoughts on this. I'm interested to hear yours more than just
repeating mine. An overhaul is a is an amazing thing, right? Because everything is taken off, everything's clean,
everything's But how much difference do you find between somebody taking your clan apart, cleaning it up, not
necessarily changing all the pads, only the ones that need changing versus the overhaul? Is is there one that you
prefer? I guess I guess people call that a clean oil and adjust which is less than a full overhaul.
I like the clean oil adjust because I it's like I just like if it's not if
it's working right I don't want to mess with it. There's a little bit of like voodoo in it for me. Like little
superstition like if it's working we're not going to change it right cuz sometimes you fiddle with things and
you're like why is it now not why is it now not going? It's not doing the thing or it sound if I I hear a funny noise.
It's like a car. It's like my dad always was hearing funny noises coming from the car and you know you take it into the
shop and they're like that'll be $10,000 to do something to your car and you have no idea what they did. So I I just like
do the little like if there's a known problem let's address it and then like
leave it at that till something else, you know? That's kind of my
What do you think, Josh? Yeah, it's a interesting. I do kind of like the the overhaul where you can see
all the pads are brand new and and it gives me a sense of security that like okay, everything is at least it looks
shiny so it must be working better or something now. But I'm also a kind of or
not also I I won't say this of Lynn, but I'm a chronic undererer of of my
instruments and uh so yeah I identify with that. Yeah, I would
identify as that as well. Well, the the thing that I've always found to be challenging is having a
relationship with the repairman or the repair technician. I don't want to make be gender appropriate that because most
of my repair technicians have been women in the past 10 years, which is a total change from what it was previous to
that. And uh in New York City, I mean, we had uh Kristen Bertrren, who's still
she left and came back, Melanie Wong, uh Kelly Tonabi, Shelley Tonabi, excuse me,
Shanabi, who's now in Texas. Amazing. But they they all come and gone. And uh I I finally found a new person that that
that I really trust, I really like. Um but I used to go like they would have shops. Well, Kristen and and Melanie
both worked for Buffet or at Buffet more than for Buffet, but so they were there like in Midtown. So when I was doing
shows, sometimes I would just stop in and say hello and get out of there kind of quickly, so I didn't bother them for too long. But they they would be willing
to work on my instruments if I needed it. Because that's the thing about technicians is they have enough
business. They're busy. Mhm. And the thing that I found is you have to have a good relationship with them
otherwise they're too busy for you. And and uh that that's something that I
don't actually have an active relationship. So I'm I'm turning into well the pandemic ruined it too, right?
Because you know there was but yeah I I because I used to go get things tinkered with regularly and now it's like once a
year at the most but once a year seems about the right amount of time I think. Oh, I think what I generally recommend to my
students is about once a year. What I personally do is probably not that much. Uh, in fact, actually, the last time I
had my clarinet like really serviced and actually that is anything I've had done. I replaced one tenon cork myself since
then, but the last time was the end of 2023, so I'm coming up on 2 years. But I also do think there are some leaks and
stuff that I need to take mine in. But with UJ being in in New York, um you
have so much access and you want to find somebody you have a good relationship with and obviously go to to one of the
best, which is not a lot and they're very busy in in that kind of area. But where I'm at, there's there's one repair
general repair person who does everything in town and he does decent work. Uh there's one person who plays in
one of the military bands who's just kind of taking up repair and he does pretty good work, but I have to drive
like 3 hours to go to my preferred repair person and there's really only like a handful that are really good even
in the whole state. In New York City, there have been times where we've had more than enough, but
then there's been times where there's not enough. Some of the most functional relationships I've had have been with
repair people, you know, like where I I feel like I I know how to assess boundaries pretty well with them, which
sometimes with regular people I don't, you know, and uh and so I I but you'd be
surprised sometimes in New York there's not there's not a wealth of people, but um I think the rent's too high. I mean,
quite honestly, my understanding of how their business model works is that they have a fixed amount of they can work x
number of hours in a day. They charge this much an hour and that's what they can make. And in New York City, it's not
they don't end up with a huge amount of profit if they're renting a space to do these things and have all the equipment.
Let's talk about clarinets. If you're shopping for a clarinet, first of all, let's just say what we all play just so we can we can establish any sort of
inherent bias that goes into anything that comes out of our mouths. I play on a buffet. Uh what do I play?
I play an RC Prestige. So that's what I play. What do you play, Josh? I'm on the buffet tradition at the
moment and maybe in this discussion I'll I'll fanboy about Pun a little bit to have another perspective.
Excellent. What do you play, Lynn? I've got the Buffet R13 Prestige. Okay. All right. So, we are all
currently Y using Buffet products. Yep. I I have played back this was a long
time ago now. Uh Leblanc, Opus, and Concerto. I used those instruments when they were available and uh I never
played on a Selmer. I mean, I played on them, but not as my own instrument. Uh a Selmer or a Bun. Uh have you ever have
you guys ever played a different instrument full-time? No. Nope.
So, uh so Josh, so are you are you considering buying a Bon? Is that what I'm hearing? Yeah. So, thinking about in Fort Worth
at Clarinetfest, I tried the new Essence that Bucoon came out with, which I think
is a a pretty cool product because it's in the price range of what you would
expect a professional clarinet to be, but has a lot of the bells and whistles of bcoons out of the price range of what
a normal clarinet should be instruments. Um, so, so that's pretty pretty cool and and nice that that's kind of an option
now, uh, that they're kind of filling that niche. I think Bun is doing I I
imagine and I have absolutely no evidence of this. I'm not very close with anybody at Bun or anything at all,
but I feel like their marketing strategy right now is they're trying to put a product into every possible niche. So
they have their like very high quality intermediate, very high quality student, uh more beginner level student with the
alpha and alpha plus and then now the essence is kind of filling that like mainstream
any professional could could play it and it would be great but it's not the price of a Lumiere which I think is a a very
needed niche niche that they they needed to fill. But I don't really want to talk about the the Bflat clarinets though
they're they're exciting. The thing that I want to rave about is the Bcoon Alpha bass clarinet, uh, which I got uh, I
ordered in January and got it in like May or something, so it's it's a few months old to me. But if you have some
some extra money and you feel like you've done the lessons and and you know how to play the instrument well and you
want a new really fun toy to play with, uh, first of all, bass clarinet's the best out of the clarinets, so you'll
have that to play with, which is great. Second of all, the Bun Alpha is a
amazing instrument, especially for the price point, and you don't have to baby
it too much. Whereas, if you First of all, the price point of getting a a fully professional model instrument
that's made out of wood is very expensive. So, that's a huge investment. And then you're like, well, am I going
to fall in love with bass clarinet that much? Am I going to play it enough? Am I going to keep the wood in condition by
playing it enough? If you don't know, the Bucoon Alpha is at a price point where you can just go for it. You don't
have to worry about caring for the wood and you have this really fun toy to to play with because again, base clearance
the best. Well, fill me in. Is the is the is the Alpha not made out of wood or is it
wood? Oh, what is it made out of? Correct. Yeah. Yeah, it's fully synthetic. I think it's made out of the same material as the Alpha Bflat
clarinet. Um, so yeah, it's fully synthetic, but it has all of the key work and all the bells and whistles of
the the Q, their professional bass clarinet model at the moment. Uh, so it it plays super easy. It it feels great
and you can play it inside, outside, in the cold, in the hot. It's and just have
fun with it. That's nice. That's great. So Lynn,
if you were to take me clarinet shopping, what would you advise me? Okay.
Well, the question that I want to answer is not that one. I think it's the way it should be.
Answer whatever question you want because you and I would go do something
much I I don't know what we would do. We would have a whole bunch of fun, right? If we want if we all met up in New York,
we're like, let's go clarinet shopping, us three. That would be amazing. And I think we three would come, you know, out
of the stores, you know, with a whole different uh bag of of fun than than we
might do like for students or like for somebody that's like, "Oh, I want to, you know, I want to I want to upgrade."
So, I'm going to answer the question that I want to answer, which is um what you know, like what's the dark like So,
Josh, you're talking about like the alpha like it's kind of we didn't know like how cool that like this is a gray
clarinet for the money. So, I'm going to put out there that if you um just want
like a really solid, good clarinet that's going to sound colorful, it's not
going to be um uh finicky, it's going to like play
solid, be colorful, I'm going to vote for the Buffet E12F. So, the intermediate clarinet and then
and then I'm going to say you put onto that E12F a gorgeous mouthpiece and then you are
off to the races, right? like those the combin that combination I have seen more students
h like that's a I don't know why it's like a winning combination good mouthpiece and then this particular
clarinet there's like something that it is um it's got like like a smoothness
like a creamy quality to it but it's not like the dull it's not dull dull smooth
it's like still colorful but still smooth so I I don't know I find it I
find it very appealing and I feel like for your money like cuz I'm always
looking for a bargain. Um I feel like for your money on a buffet now cuz all
as we know the prices are just higher and higher and higher for every you know for everybody. So I feel like for your
money that's that's a good like that's a good thing and if you can find it used like even better right? Yeah.
Well, that's something that I wanted to to get everybody's impression of is of the instruments that you have had in
your professional career, how many of them have been used? [Music]
All of them. Yeah. Yeah. Well, and I'm curious to know, did you buy them from people you knew?
I have a fun story for the tradition that I'm currently playing on. So, I got it I got it while I was doing my masters
in Chicago and I got there and and got a few students. And my first student in Chicago was this adult who came in with
this like really beat up like she played it in elementary school 40, 50 years
ago. And it was one where you could actually replace the left uh hand key. It had like an extension you could put
on there that would cover that hole for like kids with small fingers, which I had never seen before, which is kind of
brilliant, but but it was in terrible condition. Uh, and then the second student I got in Chicago was also an
adult who is kind of interested in playing, and I'm like, okay, I wonder what kind of instrument he's going to
come in with. And he comes in with this brand new buffet tradition that uh he
was like, you know, I was kind of interested in in clarinet. So, I sent an email to Richie Holly cuz I heard that
he like is good and knows stuff. And he replied back with like, "Oh, I was just in Paris testing them at the factory and
like these are the serial numbers that I liked." And he bought one of those ones that that Richie was testing and liked.
And he took lessons for like 6 months and was like, "No, I think I'm going to focus more on saxophone and piano." And
in his first lesson, I tried his clarinet, was like, "This is pretty good." So, I I got to the point where my
teacher was saying maybe I needed a new clarinet. And I reached out to him and was like, "Hey, do you still have that
clarinet that you might want to get rid of for a good price?" And it worked out. Nice.
So, Glenn, have you always bought new or have you bought used? I had my very first clarinet was the one
that my mother played on when she was in high school. Um, and that's how I
started with the clarinet. I thought I was going to play violin when I came home from school. Like on the day where you pick an instrument, I was like, "Hey, mom. I'm going to do violin." and
she's like, "Well, there's a clarinet in the basement, so we're going to you're going to do clarinet." So, I that's how I how clarinet came to me, which was
great. It was awesome. And I loved that clarinet. And then she at some point in high school, she got for me a used R13
from the 70s. Um, that was from it was like the one of the professors at
University of Northern Colorado. It was their clarinet and she bought it. She worked at the university, so she bought
it from them. so used. It was already very used by the time that I got it. And I played on that till like six years ago
when I finally was like, it's totally bl I've blown it out. It was probably blown out before I even got it. It just like
it wouldn't hold the sound anymore. It just wouldn't hold it no matter what I
did with equipment, you know, thus the rabbit holes that I've gone down. But um and then I ended up I ended up looking
around a lot trying a lot of different clarinets um when I wanted to replace it and um I almost bought a baboon. Um but
then I I just kind of I I kind of wimped out. I kind of like you know got scared about like oh what if I what if I don't
play a buffet? Like it got kind of got to my core identity a little bit in a
probably a not super healthy way. So, um, so then I, so I ended up getting a
new R13 Prestige. I wanted the Prestige. It has like a nice density and a nice core and a nice ring. And so that's kind
of what what I did. But I think as we all know, it's always a compromise, right? So I'm getting kind of the color
and the ring and the core that I like, but I'm always working on my intonation.
Always. My first clarinet is featured in lots of videos. You can
see right behind my head right there. That's my first clarinet. Um, I don't
think it was new actually. I don't even remember. It's an Armstrong 4000. A little bit unknown in the clarinet
world. Uh, but it it got me started for a couple years. And then I ended up uh going to the local music store and
getting an R13 in sixth grade. My my mom believed me when I told her I wanted to
play the clarinet and and she said, "Are you going to really play this?" I said, "Yes, I am." And so she she got me a
professional clarinet which I wasn't allowed to take to school for a long time and I think that that was the right move. Um and that one wasn't yet a lamp
so I could play that one still. Um that has all the originals on it. I wonder I wonder if I unlamped it would it play?
Um but but yeah then a lot of the I've had a lot of clarinets. My my Leblanc
was used. the clarinet I play now. The the A was new, but the B flat I bought
from somebody who was a great player who had too many clarinets and uh he had gotten it overhauled from but with my
preparer that I loved at the time. Still love her, but not I don't really use her right now cuz she's so busy. But Kristen Bertrren, I was like perfect. I mean
it's it's I mean I feel like if you can find somebody sewing a clarinet who's great at playing the clarinet who just
has too many clarinets and their instrument has been overhauled, you're winning on a lot of levels. You're saving a lot of money because it's
probably a good clarinet and it's got all the work done on it. Tell me tell me how you feel about this frustrating situation. If you agree with my
assessment and why it is that way. Why is it that when we go buy a clarinet? Almost any clarinet I would say it
doesn't really work right. If you go to a showroom and they get it out of the box and put it together, it does it
doesn't really seal. The keys don't feel very good. All the spring tensions are off. And then
like then you have to go get it fixed as soon as you buy it. Is is that is that what everybody does? That's what I do.
Um and I feel like I know I won't say what shop it was. When a clarinet sat
around for too long, they would just have the repairmen work on it and they would sell the next time
somebody came in because it was just that that was making the clarinet not sell. Why is this level
of consistency something we just accept in the clan world? I guess we don't have a choice. I I don't know. It's weird,
right? Yeah. I mean, I'm sure the the at the end of the day, the answer has something to do with profit margins and like the
factories just can't can't set them all up nicely and and I Yeah, we don't have
options. If there was some manufacturer who started making every clarinet really
good right out of the box, then maybe it would make a difference there. Well, I mean to to me that goes to why
one should look to a certain place to buy one over another one. I think Brian Corbin does a good job putting his stuff together. I think Alcidus Rodriguez at
Rick Rodriguez Musical Services does a great job making the stuff good. So when people are trying it, they know what
they're getting. And and I think people that are willing to go that extra mile to create such good things in the clinet
world, we should shop at their at their stores, you know, and and to me like Brian Corbin, I think it's Corbin clanet
products is the official name. And then Alcidis Rodriguez, I feel very confident that both of them for somebody they
don't know, like somebody wants to buy a clan, they're going to give them a clan that works because that's that's who they are.
Yeah. I would add uh Ear Spasm and Michael Lo to that list as well. Yeah, 100%. Yeah. I I you know it's funny like
I know he sells instruments but I also like I'm just all the other stuff he sells is what comes to my head. Yeah.
No, forgive me Michael if you for some reason are watching this video. I did not mean to leave you out. I finally met
him in person just about a week ago. It was nice. I mean I'd met him in passing a lot of times but not but we
were actually in the same room for about an hour together and we actually had a a moment of hello, how are you? It was
nice. Does does he work on instruments or does he have somebody work on them before he sells them or He has somebody else. But yeah, all of
his instruments that he sells to my understanding get get worked on and and fully set up before they go out.
Yeah. Yeah. That's that that is a big a big difference maker. I think if somebody's out there thinking about just
buying an instrument from Amazon, which I'm sure you can get them, or directly from somebody who hasn't worked on it,
you know, even if it's a little bit more expensive, getting one that's been worked on is good. And particularly if you don't have a lot of confidence in
choosing an instrument, right? I think that that's the thing, you know, the vendors that you can trust that are good clarinet players, you
know, that that know what this is and they're sending it to you, it's a much different experience. And I think that's
a that's a pretty big deal. Yeah. Um, and speaking of profit margins, to not
be too uh uh calling out the companies too much, but Michael sells the
clarinets at the same price that you would buy them if you got them from Buffet or Bucoon or whatever, but he
gets them set up and he's still making enough profit margin to make it work. So if he can do it, the the company's
probably maybe there is there is the baked in sort of excuse of well it has to be shipped for
thousands of miles and I'm not sure I and marketing budgets and and staffing
and there's other expenses. Sure. And yeah, but it would be weird if if you if you
walked into your car dealership and bought a car and then need immediately needed to spend a lot of money to get it to work, right? I mean, people wouldn't
buy it. Yeah. But and I know I know it's a different industry and you know all that's different. So I think we I think
we've got a lot of stuff covered here. I really appreciate everybody's insight. So uh my my my call to action for anyone
listening to this is please share what your most favorite piece of equipment is or what your most desired piece of
equipment is. Is there something out there in the world that if you just had this one thing it would change everything? Because we all have that
imaginary thing in our mind. If I just had X, then I would sound like Y. Never
true, but we all have that thing. And I think it's fun to talk about our dreams. So, I' I'd love to see the comments
sections filled up with stuff that you love, things that matter to you. Uh, you know, try to keep in agreement with the
things that we've said. If you disagree, do it nicely and, uh, everything's good. All right, guys. Thank you so much for
being here. Yeah. Thanks for having us. This is fun. All right. All right. That's it. So, you have some
good ideas about what to buy, what to do, and how to have a great time just
checking stuff out on the clanet. Thank you, Lynn Snder. Thank you, Josh Goo. It was great to talk to you, and we will
see you next time on the Clanet Ninja Podcast. Like, subscribe, do it all, would you? Please. Thank you. Bye.
