Tootsall

Michael;

Interesting that the Bachs are priced that high in your area. (although I know of a local store that had (still has?) a new Strad that they've "listed" at $4,000 Cdn!!! but will sell for $3,000 Cdn....which at today's rate is $2,200 US!!!!!!.... they're going to have that one on the shelf a looooong time.) By chance do you happen to know what the 'over the counter' price for a Schilke is? I'm thinking that the difference in price between $1,700 for a Bach and $1,900 for a Schilke is.... intriguing.

(Sorry if I took this off topic... I know you were comparing the prices between Strads and Zeuses).

Is it a situation of "we got ya 'cause this ain't Boston and you ain't got no other choice"? or is the general cost of living that much higher in Texas?

trickg

Toots, my guess would be that it comes down to the simple laws of supply and demand. Although you can go online and get a Bach for a fairly decent price, most people are not too comfortable purchasing musical instruments online; they would rather go to a music store and pay a little more, but they also get to talk to the sales rep and they can feel happy if they think they were able to finesse the price down a little.

In my case, I'm pretty lucky. I can walk into Chuck Levin's Washington Music center in Wheaton, Maryland, ask for Byron Tony, a formy Navy bandsman and someone that knows me on a first name basis, and I can have confidence that:
1.) I am going to have a superior selection of instruments to choose from, (my Bach was the pick of a litter of about 20 - 25 horns) either Bachs or anything else that is on the market that isn't custom, and
2.) Because he knows me, I'm a former military bandsman myself, and we have a relationship that goes back about 7 years, he's pretty much automatically going to give me the best deal the store will allow him to give me.

But that may not be the way it is where Reverend is from. If the music store he is referring to is pretty much the only game in town, then they can dictate a higher selling cost to their customers. Especially so if they don't deal in the same quantities that Chuck's deals with.

I guess that's a pretty cool thing about the ZeuS. It's going to cost virtually the same anywhere you get it, and it's going to be priced consistently lower than a Strad. Not too shaby considering how they play.

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dcstep

The Bach 37s are $1450 to $1700 in Dallas, depending on the mood at Brook Mays. In December they had 180S/37 for $1459, as I posted over on TH at the time.

I really doubt that the street price is more in Houston. You just need to be a serious buyer when inquiring. The best prices are on the ones in stock, usually.

Dave

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'03 Concept TT w/ GR66.8B2.8
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Conn Vintage One flugel - GR66FD
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gzent

My friend bought a new laquered Strad about a year ago here in town for $1400, which I think was about the best he could do anywhere.

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trpguyy

Bach (illegally) fixes their prices. Any Bach dealer that wishes to remain a Bach dealer cannot and will not sell a new Bach for less than $1,450.

Tootsall

Cornet, if you have a brief moment I'd sure appreciate it if you could clarify something for me.

I'm trying to figure out your last paragraph; did you mean to say that there is a Wild Thing dealer in Australia who was trying to sell Eclipse? or there is someone in Australia who was trying to sell Wild Things? Sorry to be picky but it's always nice to know exactly what someone means.

Thanks for your time.

dcstep

Bach, legally, limits the advertised price not the selling price. There's a big legal difference. The selling price is between the dealer and the customer. BTW, those December "specials" at Brook Mays were "authorized" by Conn Selmer.

Dave

__________________
Schilke '60 B1
Selmer Paris -- '57 #20 K-Modified/
'03 Concept TT w/ GR66.8B2.8
'94 Lawler TL cornet w/ Sparx 2B
Conn Vintage One flugel - GR66FD
www.pitpops.com www.ucm-inc.com
Rocky Mountain Trumpet Fest

trpguyy

I was trying to bargain the price of a Bach at Dillon, then later Sam Ash (just for kicks) and they both said, and I quote, "They don't let us sell them for less [than $1,450]."

dcstep

That's a saleman cop-out. They (the dealers, not the salemen) can sell for whatever they want and not risk their franchise, but they can't advertise for less than allowed by Conn Selmer. Conn Selmer will authorize specials occasionally, but they're almost always for a limited period.

BTW, many (most?) of the horns that you see in the big dealers are in on consignment (Jupiter, some Conns, etc. - it varies with what's hot and what's not). Anyway, the manufacturers rightfully and legally set the prices on those, because THEY OWN THEM, not the dealer. (The dealer receives a commission.)

Most, if not all, Strads are sold out of dealer stock, so the penultimate paragraph to this post does not apply to most Bachs.

Dave

__________________
Schilke '60 B1
Selmer Paris -- '57 #20 K-Modified/
'03 Concept TT w/ GR66.8B2.8
'94 Lawler TL cornet w/ Sparx 2B
Conn Vintage One flugel - GR66FD
www.pitpops.com www.ucm-inc.com
Rocky Mountain Trumpet Fest

JoeWats

Best price I was quoted in the past three years for a Bach Strad was $1695 in the Dallas and NE Texas area. BTW, the horn was a pig and
I wouldn't buy it.

But everyone who knows me .... knows I never buy horns ... I just window shop!

Actually the best price was from a music store 650 miles south ... in McAllen, Texas. They offered me a Bach Strad for 1425.00 because I'm a band director. The Dallas area stores wanted to screw me over... and then they tried to push me into buying something other than what I'm interested it buying.

JW