Re: Re: Re: Re: Sanders Tubas


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Posted by Rick Denney on February 15, 2001 at 13:12:49:

In Reply to: Re: Re: Re: Sanders Tubas posted by Steve Bloom on February 14, 2001 at 21:06:39:

Okay, let me see if I can piece all this together.

Custom Music wanted a low-cost line to sell to students and schools. They look into history for a name that used to mean something but is no longer trademarked, and they find instruments from the turn of the century called "Sander" or "Sanders" (take your pick). They then contract with whoever is cheap that year to make them.

In, perhaps, the 60's and early 70's, Scherzer is cheap, and they sell Scherzers stencilled as "Sanders." These horns turn out to be pretty good. Later, Scherzer goes belly up or gets bought by somebody or the old man retires or something like they, so Custom has to find another supplier. Cerveny/Amati is cheap that year, so that's who they go with. They continue to use Cerveny/Amati right up through the present day.

But now that the Czech Republic is no longer Czechoslovakia, Cervenys are no longer marked Amati (whose label only seems now to be used for piston student horns), Cerveny is once again pursuing a professional market and upgrading their instruments, and they are no longer cheap. So, Custom is bringing in a few horns from Asia that are even cheaper than the Cervenys that they also sell.

Custom still sells Sanders horns, or they did a few months ago when I was there and picked up their brochures (not to mention that I saw dozens of them). The relatively pricier ones are made by Cerveny and the cheaper ones are made somewhere else, reportedly in Asia.

We think this is some kind of subterfuge, but it happens all the time and always has. I have a 100-plus-year-old Missenharter that the casual observor (include the fellow who sold it to me) called a Henry Coleman, even though the latter was just the importer. I also have a York Master that was made by Boehm and Meinl. Marzan tubas were made either by Willson or B&M. The latest Besson CC prototype was made by Walter Nirschl. Charlie Krause sells a VMI that is labelled "Schmidt." And on and on. These things are done to get around exclusive marketing arrangements and to avoid competing with a top-line product range.

It is therefore possible for a person to have a Sanders tuba that was made by Sander (or Sandner, or Sanders) many decades ago, a Sanders tuba that was made by Scherzer 35 years ago, a Sanders tuba made by Cerveny 20 years ago (or last week), or a Sanders tuba made in China or Korea last year. Given that the quality of the instrument and its production costs are not necessarily that closely related, it is reasonable to expect that some of these horns will be better than others, without trying to be. And it's likely that a Sanders tuba from another era, or from some specific year, was made by anybody else. Anybody own a Wurlitzer that was made by Rudy Meinl?

Rick "everyone can be correct here" Denney


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