| New Models
It's quite simple,really. Each new model was the direct result of someone asking for a horn that played a little differently than the B1, B2 and B3 that were available when I started working there in '62. He'd experiment with prototypes for as long as it took to get one that he liked. Then he'd have some of his students try the new horn because he knew that first-rate professional players made the worst testers since they unconciously compensate for design problems and intonation anomalies. If a weak player sounded good on a particular horn, he'd keep it around and causally let the really major people in the business try it when they came through the shop for some mouthpiece work. Pretty soon, we'd put a model number on it and dealers would start to ask for them because so and so was at the shop a while back and tried this new horn Schilke was making and thought it was great and "Could you send us a few?" and so on... |