Dillon and MW/VMI

[IOS]

Here is the deal. Gerhard Meinl decided early this year that he wanted to set the selling prices for MW tubas in the U.S. (In the jargon of the industry this is known as resale price maintenance (RPM).) The Tubadome, which is basically Gerhard’s store in the United States, and Dave Fedderly at Baltimore Brass agreed to follow Gerhard Meinl's price dictates and both carry MW instruments. The price you see is the price you will pay as determined by the manufacturer (i.e., Gerhard Meinl). Steve Dillon wanted nothing to do with this price fixing (RPM) arrangement and will no longer carry MW instruments. (I personally applaud him for his decision.) The Supreme Court has ruled that such arrangements are per se illegal except under very limited circumstances. While technically the MW price setting is illegal, practically it most likely will not be pursued since MW does not sell enough instruments and under de minimis criterion, the DOJ does not have enough resources to prosecute a case like this. (I worked for a Federal antitrust agency and saw a number of these situations.) The best bet, if you find price fixing offensive, is to take your business elsewhere.

[billeuph]

The prices listed on BBC or Tubadome's web sites are downright chillingly high. I really like the MW 2040 and 2141 (much more so than the new Miraphone), but at these prices, I'll keep my 25 year old Besson Sov. I'm not sure what Meinl is trying to accomplish with controlled and elevated prices, but higher prices aren't going to increase sales, especially among those of us who remember when MW was good value for the money.

Bill Anderson

[Dr. Dave]

I think a weak/devalued dollar vs. the Euro is also contributing to driving those MW prices up.........

Dave
____________
Dr. David Rolf

[ASTuba]

Dillon Music no longer lists Meinl Weston or VMI horns on their website. Have they stopped carrying them? Is Tubadome now the exclusive MW distributor in the US?

Dillon is still carrying the MW stuff, they just don't want anything to do with this MAP pricing, so they're not going to advertise that they're selling MW/VMI stuff. They still have it in stock. Just call Matt or Davin, and they'll give you all the information you need.

[ken k]

Here is the deal. Gerhard Meinl decided early this year that he wanted to set the selling prices for MW tubas in the U.S. (In the jargon of the industry this is known as resale price maintenance (RPM).) The Tubadome, which is basically Gerhard’s store in the United States, and Dave Fedderly at Baltimore Brass agreed to follow Gerhard Meinl's price dictates and both carry MW instruments. The price you see is the price you will pay as determined by the manufacturer (i.e., Gerhard Meinl). Steve Dillon wanted nothing to do with this price fixing (RPM) arrangement and will no longer carry MW instruments. (I personally applaud him for his decision.) The Supreme Court has ruled that such arrangements are per se illegal except under very limited circumstances. While technically the MW price setting is illegal, practically it most likely will not be pursued since MW does not sell enough instruments and under de minimis criterion, the DOJ does not have enough resources to prosecute a case like this. (I worked for a Federal antitrust agency and saw a number of these situations.) The best bet, if you find price fixing offensive, is to take your business elsewhere.

Not sure why it would be illegal. Saturn does it with their cars.

If people do not feel the tubas are worth that much they will not buy them.

ken k

[Kevin Hendrick]

[If Weril could come up with a good front action 4/4+ CC and or BBb priced around $5K and an F and or Eb based on their Yamaha 621 clone between $4K and $5K and maintain their quality; I think they could really cut into some German tuba sales.

Supposedly there is a little 4 valve front action Eb. I dunno how good it is, but it's gotta be lots cheaper than that.

Ah, yes, the 682 ... don't know if that's still in production (would be nice if it was, but I haven't seen any evidence of that). There was one on eBay about a year ago (from someone in Germany, I think) -- would be interesting to know how that turned out.

[Chuck(G)]

P.S. If Weril could come up with a good front action 4/4+ CC and or BBb priced around $5K and an F and or Eb based on their Yamaha 621 clone between $4K and $5K and maintain their quality; I think they could really cut into some German tuba sales.

I'm not certain they could.

A fellow brought in a new Weril BBb (J680) for me to look at. I was surprised that the horn made it out of the factory. One leg of the main tuning slide had no solder at all; the ferrule between the bottom bell and the bow had be forced on backwards(reverse taper); the valve tubing had been wrenched around to fit so that there were no branches that were parallel to one another. The bell was smashed up against the top bow (probably from the reversed ferrule) so that there was a 1/2" high "hump" on the inside of the bell. The bell rim was crooked (probably from the gorilla work) and a water key had fallen off. Nice valves, though.

I asked him if he'd scraped the bottom of the "B" stock barrel, and he said no, the tuba was represented as "A" stock.

I won't mention the name of the retailer to protect the guilty.

But golly, if this was representative of what's coming out of Brazil now, maybe it's best that it stays there.

[LoyalTubist]

Maybe that's what happens to the Weril horns that get to North America. All of the Weril instruments that get to Southeast Asia are fine. They are priced about the same as the Chinese instruments--and the parts are interchangeable with the Chinese instruments.

Maybe the one you saw, Chuck, was the bad apple.

[Chuck(G)]

Maybe the one you saw, Chuck, was the bad apple.

Could be, but I'll guarantee that this particular customer has scratched Weril off his list forever. You can't send out crap to a limited maket and expect not to get bitten by it.

For all I know, the horn was put together the morning after Carvaval by some really hung-over worker. I forgot to add that there was 1/2" of space at the ferrule between the bottom bow and bell and that the bottom bow had been expanded out (clumsily) to fit the reversed ferrule.