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Hi all

Where is a good place online to buy a tuba practice mute? Or should one not buy tuba mutes from the web?

Thanks
Ron M

I bought a Schlipf mute from Lee Stofer Music, and it was as good as it gets!

bort wrote:I bought a Schlipf mute from Lee Stofer Music, and it was as good as it gets!

Did you buy the Schlipf mute from Lee Stofer Music online or at his bricks and mortar store? I am assuming that you got the Schlipf practice muter because it is the only one that I saw on this web site with a price. How do you purchase things from his web site?

Ron M

Oh, I misunderstood your question.

I called him on the phone and paid with my credit card. Good idea to call him because 1) he'll make sure you get exactly what you need and 2) he's smart and talkative, and you'll end up learning something you didn't know before you called.

I purchased my Schlipf practice mute from http://www.thomann.de/" target="_blank. It was a bit less than Lee Stofer's price and I needed a #10 which Lee did not have. It took about ten days to get the mute. There were no problems with the transaction.

To purchase something from his site, just use the contact page on his website. He responded to me pretty quickly and I'll let would know how long it takes to receive the schlipf mute I literally just placed my order for moments ago via email.

bort wrote:I bought a Schlipf mute from Lee Stofer Music, and it was as good as it gets!

+1

WoWwYnAtoR wrote:To purchase something from his site, just use the contact page on his website. He responded to me pretty quickly and I'll let would know how long it takes to receive the schlipf mute I literally just placed my order for moments ago via email.

Can you let me know how long it took from order date to receive date? I am assuming that it is shipping from the US.

Thanks
Ron M

No problem. It was ordered yesterday afternoon. I received tracking information stating it was shipped out the same day. The tracking indicates it should arrive on Monday. Shipping is within the US.

I just went to the Thomann.de website, just to check their prices out of curiousity, and to see that I am not price-gouging anyone. By my calculations, if the Schlipf practice mute costs 241,00 Euro, and the exchange rate to the US Dollar is 1.378 (Bank to Bank rate, better than what what we can get), then the Schlipf mute from Thomann would cost an American $332.10, even if free shipping applies. Since shipping from Austria to Germany is about like shipping from Wisconsin to Iowa, I think that their cost is less and their margin greater, since I'm selling them here for $300.00 even, including shipping in the Continental US.

Of course, it is possible that the person posting above does not live in the US, and is able to get it from Germany cheaper.

OK, that makes sense that the US customer does not pay Deutsche VAT when ordering something from Musik Thomann, as I do not pay VAT when I import a Rudolf Meinl tuba, but there is US Customs to consider, too.

The only point I'm making is that these mutes are relatively expensive and difficult for me to acquire, even with them shipped unassembled to save space and money. After I have purchased them, then do the final assembly in my shop, and offer the sort of service that people seem to want, I find it difficult-to-impossible to sell them any cheaper. There have been variations in the bell flares of certain models over time, so sometimes I pay twice for shipping, as the first mute sent out did not quite fit a particular instrument. And, I do not charge extra, because the customer should only have to pay once.