Re: bore sizes, 4/4-6/4: do they change?


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Posted by Rick Denney on October 01, 2003 at 10:39:36:

In Reply to: bore sizes, 4/4-6/4: do they change? posted by jon schultz on September 30, 2003 at 11:10:32:

It is true that most big tubas have the same valve bodies as their smaller cousins in the same line, for the most part. The physical difference is mostly in the outer branches.

But don't confuse price and cost. Yes, it costs more to make them, but fewer people are buying them and those people are willing to spend much more money. They are harder to make, and usually require the special skills of one or two senior craftsmen, which limits their supply. Price goes up as a result.

Back in the days when schools bought BATs like the big Conns, the business model worked much differently and prices could be much lower. Even then, though, my recollection is that the 6/4 Conns were as much as 50% more expensive than the 4/4 Conns (my one old catalog copy is not with me at the moment, but that's what I remember from it).

I've linked a post where I performed a little business-model guesswork that would explain why BATs need to be so expensive to be worth the interest of the manufacturers.

If large valve bores made costs much higher, then rotary tubas would be most expensive of all, and they are not.

Rick "always coming back to the difference between price and cost" Denney



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