Bloke's right. They aren't actually MAKING very much there these days, anyway. Maybe a few King sousas, the Conn 20J, and possibly the King 1140 tuba. I seriously if any of the smaller instruments are domestic.
The key to that article is the statement regarding that they will be able to service current commitments from stock AND offshore sources. I would imagine school purchases have already been shipped.
What the heck is the UAW doing building music instruments, anyway!
Dan Schultz
"The Village Tinker" http://www.thevillagetinker.com" target="_blank
Current 'stable'... Rudolf Meinl 5/4, Marzan (by Willson) euph, King 2341, Alphorn, and other strange stuff.
Hi!
UAW indeed! Sounds like a case of workers and management needing to join a large pool of workers to be able to afford benefits...I believe a Union should be more like the Guilds that spawned them, responsible for training and continued education, producing QUALIFIED CRAFTSMEN capable of performing their work and taking pride in it!
Yes there is a strike at Eastlake. We are working diligently with the UAW in efforts to end this strike. I cannot really comment a lot about this, but I will say the following:
We make TONS of brass in this plant: TR300H2, TB301, 600, 601, 8D, 88H, 62H, 2341, 20K, 2350, all marching brass, all Holton French Horns, anything Benge, etc.
We are 100% committed to US manufacturing. That's what makes us different from any other company, so we have no desire to source anything more from China.
The Bach plant was UAW, but the agreement when they crossed the line and came back to work was no union organization for 5 years. That anniversary has passed, and the plant has 0 interest in forming a union.
ASTuba wrote:
The Bach plant was UAW, but the agreement when they crossed the line and came back to work was no union organization for 5 years. That anniversary has passed, and the plant has 0 interest in forming a union.
If anything changes, I will let you know.
Andy Smith
Repair Parts Manager
Conn-Selmer, Inc.
I know MANY of those old timers from the pre-strike Bach plant. This reminds me that I need to give them a call...
bloke wrote:
bloke "It seems to me, it takes a lot of stones to strike in an economy like this. My hat's off to these folks...at least for their stones."
+1
I play with a guy that works there. I hope all ends well (and quickly).
Marzan BBb
John Packer JP-274 euphonium
King 607F Posting and You
bloke wrote:
bloke "It seems to me, it takes a lot of stones to strike in an economy like this. My hat's off to these folks...at least for their stones."
Are the parts for the instruments you mentioned made there at Eastlake? I applaud the fact that Eastlake is commited to 100% American manufacturing. I have tried the King 2341 and liked it. I seriously wish that Conn-Selmer would also follow that same policy with their other divisions. If I am correct, Ludwig's pro drum line is manufactured in North Carolina, as well as Musser. It's a shame in my opinion, that Conn-Selmer does not manufacture the M Series saxophones anymore, and that what saxophones are being made, are being imported in (I am not referring to Selmer Paris or Yanagisawa). I own an Armstrong 800B flute that is American made. It was one of the reasons I purchased it. I certainly hope Conn-Selmer will be truly American across their entire product line with the exception of their string instrument divisions like Glaesel & Scherl & Roth from which the bodies for the best of them come from Germany. I am no expert on this subject, but again, I support the 100% American manufacturing concept instruments, parts, & accessories. If not American, certainly German. I am careful on what I buy, particularly with tubas or other musical instruments in general.
Yes, all of the parts for the King 2341 are made in the Eastlake facility. Here's a list of our facilities:
Eastlake, OH - Brass
Elkhart, IN (North) - Brass
Elkhart, IN (South) - Woodwinds
Cleveland, OH - Strings
Monroe, NC - Ludwig Drums and tympani
Lagrange, IL - Musser mallets (this will be moving to NC in the future)
The reason that we stopped making saxophones in the US was that we couldn't keep the costs down low enough to compete with what dealers, and consumers, were willing to pay for an instrument. The saxophone is the most expensive instrument to make, so it was the first instrument that ALL manufacturers tried to source overseas. We are exploring different ways to make a saxophone in the US. Will it happen? I don't know, but we are giving this a shot.
