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I'm trying to remember how much I paid for a bottle of valve oil, but I know it was less than five bucks.

The problem is that musical instrument stores are getting fewer and thinner with the cutting down of musical instruction in public education.

There was a time that San Bernardino had these musical instrument stores:

• Ossa Music Company (later Gary's Music Centre)
• Braviroff Music
• Lier Music Company
• Sliger's Music

Today there are no musical instrument stores in San Bernardino. Sliger's is in nearby Redlands. It's such a hassle to go there (unless you live in Redlands) that paying a little more at Wal-Mart is not such a bad idea.

Wal-Mart seems to be a concerned store (I just hope they don't try to sell tubas someday!)

The last few times I bought Hetman SYNTHETIC valve oil I spent 5 bucks a bottle.

LoyalTubist wrote:
Wal-Mart seems to be a concerned store (I just hope they don't try to sell tubas someday!)

Actually to be honest they did try it. It was a huge warning notice throughout our music program here when i was in grade 7 or 8, Wal-Mart had been selling cheap instruments (that look just as good as any other one) for customers (mostly students and parents who dont know the difference). Pretty sad huh, apparently someone tested a Bass Clarinet and it was like plastic .........and very breakable......and sounded like crap.

XtremeEuph wrote:apparently someone tested a Bass Clarinet and it was like plastic... and very breakable... and sounded like crap.

So it sounded like a bass clarinet! What's the problem?

windshieldbug wrote:

XtremeEuph wrote:apparently someone tested a Bass Clarinet and it was like plastic... and very breakable... and sounded like crap.

So it sounded like a bass clarinet! What's the problem?

the only problem is the bell burnt too so they had no where to put the ashes from the rest of it.

OTOH, my local Walmart does have GHS phosphor bronze acoustic guitar strings less expensive than the local music stores.

$6.84? My 16 oz bottle of Roche Thomas cost less than that!

You can get a QUART of ultra-pure lamp oil at the Dollar Store for $1! It's probably the same stuff as what's in the First Act bottle.

Just be glad it's not the "Last Act" oil...

windshieldbug wrote:Just be glad it's not the "Last Act" oil...

How about The Last Temptation oil??

Hetman's? Now you piqued my interest as well. Maybe next time I'll have to peek at the bottle to see what it says.

Don't shop at walmart.

Walmart sucks the life out of communities.......

adam0408 wrote:Don't shop at walmart.

Walmart sucks the life out of communities.......

I've heard this claim, and reject it. In the little town I used to live in, when Walmart moved in a few small shops did indeed shut down. They shut down because they were overpriced compared to Walmart, they were only open 9-6, and they had a more limited selection. Yes, I'm sure it was difficult for the couple dozen people who worked in those shops, but the cost of living dropped sharply for the TWENTY THOUSAND who DIDN'T work in the closed stores. The town had a lot of small farmers and factory workers whose money went a lot farther, and who could therefore afford to do some other things. Yeah, the hardware store went out of business, as did one of the three auto parts stores; but the restaurants, car dealers, and other businesses that didn't compete directly against Walmart boomed.

In addition to lower prices, a much wider selection of items became available to the townfolk, without having to drive 20 miles away to a larger town -- which everyone did, frequently, before Walmart came in. And, since people spend their money in town instead of away, the town and the local schools get the benefit of the sales tax. Walmart also pumps money directly into community organizations (no doubt as a P.R. ploy; but it helps the organizations, so who cares about the store's motives?)

Overall, Walmart benefitted the town of Wylie, TX greatly. On trips back, I seldom hear complaints and often hear praises for the store. I suspect that's true wherever the stores go up. If people were REALLY bitterly against Walmart, they wouldn't shop there and the stores would close. It seems to be a handful of noisy individuals trashing them, while everyone else takes advantage of the selection and low prices.

I'm curious, though -- are you basing your claim on some first-hand experience, or just "what you've heard"? I'm open to hearing different experiences others have had with Walmart; I just know that ours was greatly positive.
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Joe Baker, who DOES wish he knew whether or not their upper management (who made the decision to sell cheapo instruments) KNEW they were crap.

I really don't have any interest in stirring up a hornet's nest. I dislike walmart because they are a terribly evil corporation that masquerades as something wholesome and family oriented.

adam0408 wrote:I really don't have any interest in stirring up a hornet's nest.

Huh?? Hey, you're the guy who made audacious and libelous statements...

adam0408 wrote:I dislike walmart because they are a terribly evil corporation that masquerades as something wholesome and family oriented.

I see. So you CAN'T come up with anything specific, then? Walmart is a publicly traded company. If it is evil, then its stockholders are evil. Since the same broad body of investors owns every other publicly traded company out there, then it stands to reason that ALL of them must be evil. Right?

I don't buy it. Walmart is a business. Like every other business, they work to make a profit. Business is competitive by nature, and companies that can't compete lose money. Some people have a problem with that, I guess.

Oh, FWIW: I do not now, nor have I ever, directly owned stock in Walmart, though I'm sure my mutual funds must own some.
_______________________________________
Joe Baker, who observes that capitalism is the most terrible economic system there is, except for all the others.

The only thing I have found to dislike about Wal-Mart is the crowds!

TubaTinker wrote:The only thing I have found to dislike about Wal-Mart is the crowds!

That's the reason I go to K-Mart. So what if whatever I'm there to get is a few bucks more, I never have to wait in line......Heck, I have my own personal cashier.

schlepporello wrote:

TubaTinker wrote:The only thing I have found to dislike about Wal-Mart is the crowds!

With this I'll agree. And they do nothing to help clear these people out either. They have 45 check-out lanes, only 1/3 of them have cashiers working at them and half of the remaining registers are now "self check-out". I never use the latter. When someone from Wal-Mart points these out to me, I politely tell them that I don't shop there to save them from having to do a little work for their money, or save them money in lieu of being poorly staffed.

I went into our local Home Depot, the other day and they had no checkers working at all. Only the self checkout lanes were open. I left. Until they start giving me a discount for doing their work, I'll drive the extra half mile to Lowes.

I stopped going to Home Depot when the "help", not once, but twice sent me to the other side of the store to find something that was 30 feet away. The competiton has several greeters who steer me in the right direction as soon as I enter the store--and then has people offering to direct me further about every 100 feet. And I realy appreciate the "wait here just a moment and I'll check for you" service instead of "oh, it's somewhere around the lawnmowers" type of service.

Wal-Mart has always been good to me. As a member of the Musicians' Union, I hear all the nasty stuff they've done. Actually, the Musicians' Union supports things I don't much care about. Wal-Mart seems generally interested in the communities where they put their stores.

It was interesting that I lived in Indonesia when the short-lived experiment of having a Wal-Mart store in Jakarta was going on. It was a huge store... TWO STORIES! Much of the merchandise shipped from a warehouse in Arkansas with "MADE IN INDONESIA" stamped on the box. The biggest culture shock for Wal-Mart, not Indonesia, is that Indonesians never let one person work alone. When you would check out of the store to buy your purchases, there were FOUR PERSONS in each checkout counter. One had the cash register, one scanned UPCs, one bagged, and one was waiting to help you get your merchandise to the car.

schlepporello wrote: They have 45 check-out lanes, only 1/3 of them have cashiers working at them and half of the remaining registers are now "self check-out".

I personally like the self checkout lanes, but around me usually at least half of them have signs taped up that they are not working. Pretty high tech, huh?