TubeNet

...

From what I see in the pictures, your mouthpieces look really good. I am on a quest for the "mo' better" mouthpiece lately, and would love to try them out.

(The only reason I have not contacted you yet, is because I prefer talking on the phone to email, and you have not had a phone number on your site.)

Drop me a line at
bttmbow@yahoo.com

Chris Hall
METopera, NY

I'm a dufus. I meant to send a PM but hit the reply button instead.

davemcrobs wrote:I'll pay shipping there you send it back.

No offense intended--I wish you the best with your enterprise--but it seems strange to me that you would wish your volunteer market researchers to incur any costs at all. What's in it for them?

I do have a suggestion for Mr. McRoberts that might be good for business.

Try selecting your trial testers out of the more credible professional players. If you sent me one and I liked it, who would really care what I thought? Heck, I wouldn't even take me as a reference, given the collection of mouthpieces that I don't play any more..

Just a thought. They sure look pretty, though!

I absolutely disagree. The majority of mouthpieces, regardless of brand, are sold to good amateurs, just simply because there are more of us than there are of them. All of us hackers may have less breath support and less than spectacular chops, but most of us are careful, discerning and can tell the difference in mouthpieces.

A combination of professionals and dedicated talented amateurs will get the true spectrum of results.

And then this gets to the question of marketing, whether to the "professionals," or to us amateur hackers. Just like any other equipment in any other pursuit, the needs vary, and so must the design specs.

iiipopes wrote:I absolutely disagree. The majority of mouthpieces, regardless of brand, are sold to good amateurs, just simply because there are more of us than there are of them. All of us hackers may have less breath support and less than spectacular chops, but most of us are careful, discerning and can tell the difference in mouthpieces.

Go back and re-read my response. It had nothing to do with the validity of an amateur evaluation, but merely what was good for business.

Would you be more likely to buy an Arnold Jacobs Helleberg or a Gomez Schmidlap Krautsmecker, given the endorsement that Mr. Krautsmecker played first chair tuba in the East Jawbone HS Wind Ensemble and Mr. Schmidlap once saw a real symphony orchestra?

Endorsements mean things in the business world. There's a reason that Wheaties is still a popular cereal.

bloke wrote:

circusboy wrote:

davemcrobs wrote:I'll pay shipping there you send it back.

No offense intended--I wish you the best with your enterprise--but it seems strange to me that you would wish your volunteer market researchers to incur any costs at all. What's in it for them?

Lemme susplain it to ya, son...I say SON...

When ya go out to a restrunt thatcha never been to afore, ya pay fo the gas there 'n' back. Ya pay fo the food, an' you tip the server. Ya plan ahead of time to expect all o' this, even though ya ain't at all sure whatcha gonna git. The first visit ain't free: It's full cost.

With Mr. McRoberts mouthpieces, the first visit is free, plus free gas to get you and the mouthpiece together...and no gratuity required!

Sorry, bloke, not a good analogy. When you go to the restaurant, you get to keep the food (I hope). You've made a choice to try the restaurant; you take your chances.

I've been called upon to participate in market research on car upholstry for which I was paid $100. My wife participated in a focus group for a clothing catalogue for which she received a gift certificate. This is standard procedure.

If Mr. McRoberts had said, "I've got these new mouthpieces; why don't you give one a try--risk free! You need only pay for the return postage if you don't want to buy one." Then I would have found that perfectly normal and acceptable--a nice offer, even. But that's not what he said. He said that he needs feedback and that participants would have to fill out a form. That's participating in market research.

Given the limited scope of the field, I wouldn't expect to be paid $100. By the same token, however, I wouldn't expect to be out-of-pocket any of my own cash in furthering his business' research.

I believe that I went out of my way to be respectful to Mr. McRoberts in my earlier post. I'm disappointed that you felt the need to be disrespectful to me in yours.

And after I said nice things about your "Ghost of a Chance" . . . .

ben wrote:I'd buy a Gomez Schmidlap Krautsmecker just to show it off to my friends. With a cool name like that engraved on the piece, who wouldn't want one

Wow that mouthpiece would be huge just to fit that whole name on it! sounds like it would work well on German horns....

the elephant wrote:

ben wrote:I'd buy a Gomez Schmidlap Krautsmecker just to show it off to my friends. With a cool name like that engraved on the piece, who wouldn't want one

I've already got one!

you silly little k-nigits....

BTW, I'm not dead yet! Took my kid to see Spamalot in NYC for his birthday. what a hoot!, turned him on to all my old Monty Python tapes! i actually bought an "I'm not dead yet!" T-shirt. Great show!

ken k

PS did you know Ben & Jerry's now makes a "Vermonty Python" ice cream? i forget what flavor it is. I think it might be maple syrup flavored, which is big up in Vermont.

I have one of his mouthpieces right now but have been a total bum and need to ship it off to the next victim. I must say it is one of the better mouthpieces I have tried in a while. The one I have has a clear sound and excellent articulation. I have not thrown it in front of a tuner yet, but that is subjective.

I play a PT-88 for just about everything and still prefer my PT-88 only because of the ease of the low end. This guy's mouthpiece does have more clarity and certainly has uses but might be missing a little FOR ME in the low end. It plays a good deal to me like my Shilke H2 but is slightly larger. I will not sell by H2, but I also rarely use it.

Overall an excellent mouthpiece and I need to stop being a bum and get this sample off to the next guy. He has been very patient with me on the demo and seems enthusiastic about producing and developing a world class product.