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Yep. Those are good ol' chinese instruments that are poorly built. In fact, none of our local repair shops will service them because of their terrible construction and non-standard parts. They have to be sent to Pennsylvania or some such. We are seeing more of them in our beginner band classes because they are so much cheaper than instruments through our regular suppliers. As they say, you get what you pay for.

Yes.. I saw the same instruments at Sam's Club a week ago. The price is $179.95 each for flute, clarinet, or trumpet. The brand name is 1st Act. It's true that these instruments are not worth having but let's not forget that the same was true with Yamaha a couple of decades ago. I would not advise anyone to buy one of these instruments as there are many good used brand-name horns out there for the same money. In my opinion, some of the name-brand guys have just about priced themselves out of business. The quality of the imports will gradually improve until they are viable competition. The Japanese automakers have already proved this concept to the US automakers. Now... the Koreans are giving the Japanese a run for their money.

Now for the cold.. hard facts...

Most folks gripe about the cheap imports. Most folks gripe about the high cost of often over-rated name-brand US made products. Fact... our economy would be in one terrible shape were it not for low-cost imports. US manufacturing is on the decline. Retail is booming. If you want to buy something, you've gotta sell something. Most of us could not afford to buy only US made goods... even if we could find them. Many products that appear to be US made are actually reboxed imports. Even the US instrument manufacturers rely on parts coming from offshore sources. Often the term 'made in the USA' only means the product was assembled or reboxed here.

I have my own repair shop. I don't like the imports but I will eventually have to work on them. It's a living.

20 years ago when I used to look at the Sears Christmas catalog filled with toys for me to ask Santa for, I remember that catalog sold a trumpet, flute and clarinet and I seem to remember them being $100 or maybe even under $100. I'm surprised Walmart is just now getting around to selling them.

joebob wrote:20 years ago when I used to look at the Sears Christmas catalog filled with toys for me to ask Santa for, I remember that catalog sold a trumpet, flute and clarinet and I seem to remember them being $100 or maybe even under $100. I'm surprised Walmart is just now getting around to selling them.

Actually, Sears was selling instruments at the turn of the 20th century too--the tubas were made by Bohland & Fuchs.

Many are commenting on Walmart and Sears musical instruments. I guess by now most of us have seen the instruments at Walmart. They even had a booth at the Texas Bandmasters Assoc. convention in San Antonio a couple of weeks ago. The instruments come with a two year guarantee. I would not personally recommend them, of course.

I once had a student who had one of the Sears trumpets. It was(I'm serious, now) a Craftsman trumpet. Obviously, it was not of the same level of quality that the Craftsman line of work tools are in.

TubaRay wrote: I once had a student who had one of the Sears trumpets. It was(I'm serious, now) a Craftsman trumpet. Obviously, it was not of the same level of quality that the Craftsman line of work tools are in.

That almost sounds like this from Chuck(G)'s page.

excellent discussion!
please see the other thread on this subject--"teacher approved"

We refer to these items as "instrument like objects." It is true that the industry is undergoing great change. Most American manufacturers are exploring offshore. The Selmer AS 500 alto sax is made in China. But you know what, the 500 is a better instrument and less expensive than the still American made AS300. As stated earlier in the thread, the Chinese are figuring things out; they will be competing hard and heavy for their share of the market. But as it stands, the Wal Mart and Cosco instruments are junk!

schlepporello wrote:But in this area you won't find anything larger than a straight tenor bone.

Never been to your area, but I didn't know that tenor trombones came in different sexual orientations! Guess I need to get out more

schlepporello wrote:Pawn shops, garage sales, flea markets......
But in this area you won't find anything larger than a straight tenor bone.

I attended a LARGE flea market this past weekend. I saw a total of six clarinets, two flutes, four trumpets, and one tenor trombone.... all student-grade instruments with brand names like Bundy, Bach, and Conn. The most expensive one was $100. All but one or maybe two were ready to play as they were. I bought one Bach trumpet, which after an hour or two of work, I will resell for perhaps $300. Soooo.... there is NO excuse for anyone having to buy from Wal-Mart simply because that's all they can afford.
I have yet to stumble across any good tubas, euphs, or bass bones at flea markets or pawn shops.
Would you buy a tuba from Wal-Mart if they had them? After all... they DO have a very good return policy!

Greg wrote:I spoke with a walmart manager and requested that he take down the "perfect for your school band program" sign because the director is not recommending this brand of instrument and there is no repair technician. I also requested that they remove the display and stock of instruments altogether for the benefit of the students in school system.
The response that I received from the manager is that he has no control over selection of inventory, however, if he would mention the complaint to his district manager who does have this control. Enough complaints will make a change in the inventory. I am hoping that band directors will make enough noise to make this change as wal mart claims to be community oriented and supportive of the schools.

Think about sending some letters to the editors of the local papers. Unless the papers' editors are influenced by the store's advertising, you'll have some editorial page clips to copy and hand out to the band parents.

Dean E wrote: Think about sending some letters to the editors of the local papers. Unless the papers' editors are influenced by the store's advertising, you'll have some editorial page clips to copy and hand out to the band parents.

Before you do, you ought to take a look at the instruments in question. You may be challenged and I doubt the consensus of Tubenet will be persuasive, heh, heh.

I'm sure they are as bad as everyone says, but I'd want to make sure I was opining based on first-hand experience.

Rick "who enjoyed a guitar as a kid (but still didn't learn how to play it) that had to be worse than any of those Walmart instruments" Denney

schlepporello wrote:

TubaTinker wrote:Would you buy a tuba from Wal-Mart if they had them? After all... they DO have a very good return policy!

That return policy would probably last about as long as the horn too.

I mean IF Wal-Mart sold Mirafones and Rudys!

schlepporello wrote:

TubaTinker wrote:Would you buy a tuba from Wal-Mart if they had them? After all... they DO have a very good return policy!

That return policy would probably last about as long as the horn too.

Big Box Store represents and warrants that the horns are fit for use in school bands, but none of the school band officials approve them.

Big Box might call it a return policy. I'd call it breach of warranty of fitness for intended use, part of the Uniform Commercial Code (UCC) in every state.