Do you Belive it !

2050 Views 20 Replies 15 Participants Last post by Tissot, Jun 22, 2007

scottieAnthony

Discussion Starter · Jun 20, 2007

Well I have just come home from the biggest Mall In the Whole of Asia here in the Philippines and they have only one music shop there full of guitars and not very good ones at that, but I went there for a couple of reeds thinking they have to have more in now, But Guess what ? Yes you got it ! Nothing ! Well lets say I have the choice of Vandoren 2, 3.5 or that's it bye bye. What a Bloody country ! o they did have 2 saxophones in there, 1 Alto and Tenor , both made in china wat a joke this place is.

1 - 20 of 21 Posts

milandro

· #2 · Jun 20, 2007

Well, unless you are anywhere near a main city, even in Europe (or the U.K. for that matter...) or in the U.S.A. is the same story......innit? Guitars (cheap guitars that is...) everywhere and very few saxophones, mostly low end Taiwanese or Chinese. I was in Dubai one year ago and my hotel was part of a complex where they had a medium sized shopping mall, I could only see Chinese instruments (mostly guitars but also an alto and a tenor) in the shop. After all, the Philippines music scene is probably not much saxophone oriented, I guess. Mostly rock, or anyway guitar based music and very little jazz I should think.

Swampcabbage

· #3 · Jun 20, 2007

I got my VI in a guitar shop. Great horn, but wouldnever have thought to look there (and apparently no one else did in the last 10 years) had it not been in my wifes home town. But yeah, I order most of my reeds on line because even when the sax shop (20+ miles away) gets my faves in, they sell out right away.

Tissot

· #4 · Jun 20, 2007

scottieAnthony said:
Well I have just come home from the biggest Mall In the Whole of Asia here in the Philippines and they have only one music shop there full of guitars and not very good ones at that, but I went there for a couple of reeds thinking they have to have more in now, But Guess what ? Yes you got it ! Nothing ! Well lets say I have the choice of Vandoren 2, 3.5 or that's it bye bye. What a Bloody country ! o they did have 2 saxophones in there, 1 Alto and Tenor , both made in china wat a joke this place is.

Every country has its "strong-ness" and "weak-ness". I just think your statement is very meanful :?

scottieAnthony

Discussion Starter · #5 · Jun 20, 2007

I was In the main city Manila ! and remamber this they Mall they shout about is the biggest in the whole of Asia,and there are alot of marching bands here and saxophones in nearly every band.
But Im going back to the uk soon thank god so I can get what I want there I have never had a problem getting stuff there.
But if as you say that is mean of me to tell the truth, well sorry I tell it as it is.

coolsax2k7

· #6 · Jun 20, 2007

I wish the supermarkets here in the U.S. would carry more things like Galangal root, Korean ginseng root, and Ling Zhi mushrooms.

That's what I want to go to Asia for... the crazy foods. If I bring my sax with me, I'll remember to bring reeds.

scottieAnthony said:
I was In the main city Manila ! and remamber this they Mall they shout about is the biggest in the whole of Asia,and there are alot of marching bands here and saxophones in nearly every band.
But Im going back to the uk soon thank god so I can get what I want there I have never had a problem getting stuff there.
But if as you say that is mean of me to tell the truth, well sorry I tell it as it is.

Honeyboy

· #7 · Jun 20, 2007 (Edited)

Phoenix is a fast growing (unfortunately) city of 3 million people and there is basically one place that sells only basic mouthpieces-Otto Links, Selmers, Bergs, Vandorens, and Dukoffs and believe it or not, some newer Hites and just Yamaha saxes. They have a good reed selection but charge quite a bit more than WWBW and the like.
There's a place in Mesa which carries some Beechlers because one of the head guys likes them.They also carry some cheap Asian brand I can't remember the name of. The Mesa store carries some Keilworth saxes as well as Selmer, Cannonball and Yamaha.They have the best selection of new high end saxes in the Phoenix area but charge full retail price on them. I bought only one new horn , in Scottsdale -in 1979-a Yamaha YTS 61. All others with the exception of my Mark VI and a Buescher 156 were bought from local pawn shops or from want ads. The place where I got the Buescher is now out of business and the place I got the Mark VI (in Glendale) only carries new Bueschers. Occasionally he gets a decent horn in on trade. He has a couple of newer style Brilhart Levelaires for alto in stock and then just some Selmer C*'s and basic Rico, Vandoren reeds and a few accessories like neckstraps. He has to depend on Ebay sales to sell lots of his stuff (mostly guitars like Fender) His bread and butter is ebay sales and instrument rentals.
In the general Phoenix area if you are looking for any other kinds of mouthpieces you are out of luck- you have to deal with internet sources like WWBW or private sellers like Barone. Apparently there isn't a market here for high end mouthpieces and good used horns. Is this the way it is in most cities?

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jazzbluescat

· #8 · Jun 21, 2007

scottieAnthony said:
Well I have just come home from the biggest Mall In the Whole of Asia here in the Philippines and they have only one music shop there full of guitars and not very good ones at that, but I went there for a couple of reeds thinking they have to have more in now, But Guess what ? Yes you got it ! Nothing ! Well lets say I have the choice of Vandoren 2, 3.5 or that's it bye bye. What a Bloody country ! o they did have 2 saxophones in there, 1 Alto and Tenor , both made in china wat a joke this place is.

That's just not right. If I wuz in your situation I'd be using synthetic.

littlemanbighorn

· #9 · Jun 21, 2007

scottieAnthony said:
Well I have just come home from the biggest Mall In the Whole of Asia here in the Philippines and they have only one music shop there full of guitars and not very good ones at that, but I went there for a couple of reeds thinking they have to have more in now, But Guess what ? Yes you got it ! Nothing ! Well lets say I have the choice of Vandoren 2, 3.5 or that's it bye bye. What a Bloody country ! o they did have 2 saxophones in there, 1 Alto and Tenor , both made in china wat a joke this place is.

I've never been to a decent shop in a mall. A mall (especially a massive one) is the antithesis of the good specialist woodwind shop with a bunch of vintage horns and a good techs.
Do you really want to buy your Otto Links next door to the Gap? Don't blame the country because you're looking in the wrong place.

Tissot

· #10 · Jun 21, 2007

scottieAnthony said:
I was In the main city Manila ! and remamber this they Mall they shout about is the biggest in the whole of Asia,and there are alot of marching bands here and saxophones in nearly every band.
But Im going back to the uk soon thank god so I can get what I want there I have never had a problem getting stuff there.
But if as you say that is mean of me to tell the truth, well sorry I tell it as it is.

There are at least 10 millions of people play the chinese violin in this world. The experienced / matured musicians wouldn't complain if they couldn't find any chinese violin stores in the UK, because they know they are in the wrong place for this instruments.

Saxmusiclover

· #11 · Jun 21, 2007

scottieAnthony said:
Well I have just come home from the biggest Mall In the Whole of Asia here in the Philippines and they have only one music shop there full of guitars and not very good ones at that, but I went there for a couple of reeds thinking they have to have more in now, But Guess what ? Yes you got it ! Nothing ! Well lets say I have the choice of Vandoren 2, 3.5 or that's it bye bye. What a Bloody country ! o they did have 2 saxophones in there, 1 Alto and Tenor , both made in china wat a joke this place is.

I live in Hong Kong which bills itself as the shopping paradise of the world. And it's true to a certain extent. You can get a genuine Rolex watch here cheaper than in Geneva (Rolex's hometown).
But guess what, that doesn't apply to saxophones. The only decent music shop here (Tom Lee) carries a very limited collection of entry level Jupiters, Yamahas, Selmer Omegas, and Antiguas. They don't carry Chinese saxes (not yet anyway). It's also touch-and-go for reeds.
So I guess its the same everywhere.

58tenor

· #12 · Jun 21, 2007

I do most of my purchasing these days online. No driving,no tax, he11, I don't even have to look presentable!

bruce bailey

· #13 · Jun 21, 2007

In Miami the only place that even has some selection of horns is a Sam Ash!
I clean up selling flutes as I am the only one that sells AND repairs. No need to advertise, just word of mouth. I agree that the markets are different around the world. Beef in Chicago is the best. People in Nashville are friendly.

rabbit

· #14 · Jun 21, 2007

Honeyboy,

Your post interests me 'cause of your Phx., AZ origin,
where I was born & lived on & off for what seemed like
eternity.

I'd enjoy exploiting this opportunity to deride Phx. but
will spare you that. I think you have to have a major
metro area to get a real sax thing going. Just too
esoteric and everything in that category has fled to the
net driven by practical economics.

Is Quick's Music still in business? I got my
Cleveland clarinet from them when they were still
located downtown, around the block from Walgreen's
IIRC.

Good luck & stay cool.

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rogerb40uk

· #15 · Jun 21, 2007

"Well, unless you are anywhere near a main city, even in Europe (or the U.K. for that matter...)..."

Hey, milandro, you sound like a member of the UK Independence Party... last time I checked, the UK is IN Europe (whether they like it or not!)

But I don't think that there's much money to be made for smallish(or even bigger) shops' keeping a stock of varied 'high-end' saxes, for people to come and try-out and then go off and buy on the 'net

RootyTootoot

· #16 · Jun 21, 2007

rogerb40uk said:
But I don't think that there's much money to be made for smallish(or even bigger) shops' keeping a stock of varied 'high-end' saxes, for people to come and try-out and then go off and buy on the 'net

Sad but must be true. I think the real problems start when the punter's wanting to get his net-bought sax serviced or repaired. No local sax shops, no techs. I've heard of shops which offer repairs refusing to do anything with cheap net-bought saxes. Fair enough. I can see that trend continuing and also the cost of even very simple repairs and adjustments will go up and up..

milandro

· #17 · Jun 21, 2007

rogerb40uk said:
Hey, milandro, you sound like a member of the UK Independence Party... last time I checked, the UK is IN Europe (whether they like it or not!)

That's what I always thought myself....... but unfortunately the most widely spread British perception is that Continental Europe is Europe and Britain is in and out of it at leisure . Most people, you would agree.... (and television and press) speak about Europe as being a separate entity from Britain.

Having lived in England for a while I still remember the days when the press had big titles about the effects of a storm and the " continent" being isolated as opposed to Britain being isolated! It is a matter of perspective.

Anyway my comment was about the fact that even in England, Holland ,Germany or the States, for that matter (here you read often enough of Americans complaining of this situation) , one can very easily discover that there is no decent shop for musical instruments for miles around.

Naples in Italy has one street, via San Sebastiano, close to the conservatoire of San Pietro a Majella, which at one time had most, if not all of the music shops in town. Recently, during a visit to the town I went to take a look around the shops. There were only Taiwanese and Chinese horns on display in the remaining shops of a once crowded of shops and musicians street and no shop had any reputable second hand (or vintage) instruments to sell (Mr. Miletti spent some time tring to convince me that the Dixon tenor he had was a good player's saxophone). No doubt you could order anything you wanted but it wasn't there for you to try!

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goldhorse

· #18 · Jun 21, 2007

scottieAnthony said:
Well I have just come home from the biggest Mall In the Whole of Asia here in the Philippines and they have only one music shop there full of guitars and not very good ones at that, but I went there for a couple of reeds thinking they have to have more in now, But Guess what ? Yes you got it ! Nothing ! Well lets say I have the choice of Vandoren 2, 3.5 or that's it bye bye. What a Bloody country ! o they did have 2 saxophones in there, 1 Alto and Tenor , both made in china wat a joke this place is.

I am from the Philippines, but I've lived in Japan for the last 15 years. To tell you the truth I didn't even see a sax before coming to Japan, not even the cheap Chines made ones. I do feel unlucky sometimes that I didn't grow up in an evironment where you can choose to study the sax in high school music class or afford to buy a sax and play it as a hobby. The cheapest Yamaha model would amount to something like 4 or 5 month's salary. No, it doesn't make sense to sell it in the Philippines.

And oh, by the way, what nice language you use. Makes me thankful I am not from your neigborhood.

Honeyboy

· #19 · Jun 21, 2007

rabbit said:
Honeyboy,

Your post interests me 'cause of your Phx., AZ origin,
where I was born & lived on & off for what seemed like
eternity.

I'd enjoy exploiting this opportunity to deride Phx. but
will spare you that. I think you have to have a major
metro area to get a real sax thing going. Just too
esoteric and everything in that category has fled to the
net driven by practical economics.

Is Quick's Music still in business? I got my
Cleveland clarinet from them when they were still
located downtown, around the block from Walgreen's
IIRC.

Good luck & stay cool.

Quick's is the place I was describing in the 1st paragraph.Good selection of reeds and the basic mouthpieces. They moved up to near Central and Camelback. They no longer sell sheet music. Melano's Music is the place in Mesa with the better selection of horns. Otto Steins has long been out of business. Luckily I am pretty satisfied with my equipment. Now, if the bars would only start paying more!!! It's supposed to be 115 today- but it's a dry heat...

scottieAnthony

Discussion Starter · #20 · Jun 21, 2007

Goldhorse to use the word bloody is quite mild, I hear the f word all the time from your country men,and Im honest to say I use it also,and most guys in here in this forum,if they were ask and if they were honest would fined they do at some time or other. so please dont make out that you never hear that b4,and to say your glad you dont live in my neigborhood.
makes me really laugh, first you dont even know where I live,and where I do live is one of the only safe places here.

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