Posted by Dan Schultz on October 03, 2003 at 16:24:37:
In Reply to: Re: Re: Drang nach dem Osten for UMI? posted by Yeah... on October 03, 2003 at 16:03:53:
I was in the UMI plant in Nogales, Arizona 1 1/2 years ago. They build saxophones and clarinets. The bodies are made right at the facillity but it's no secret that many of the castings arrive in finished condition from off-shore sources. What makes all of this very interesting to me is that it doesn't seem to matter where stuff comes from as long as the quality is acceptable and the brokers/importers/retailers continue to make money by reselling the stuff. There is not much money in manufacturing, anyway. Has anyone seen the tubas being sold by someone called 'enemykite' on the auction? According to the seller it is made in China. It appears to be a very near copy of a Sonora and my Carl Wunderlich that was made in eastern Germany in the 70's. The early stencils were very good horns that were probably made at the B & S factory. Who knows what the metals or workmanship are in the Chinese horns but there is one thing that you can bet on... in a few years the Chinese will have the quality kinks ironed out and they will become very competitive. Remember, it has only been a couple of decades since the Japanese flooded the US markets with junky merchandise.