| As I understand it, it wasn't any one year per se. Unlike wine which can be different from year to year depending on the quality of the grapes, the Bach brass seemed to have quality issues here and there.
Some have said they would play 6 different Strads and find one that was good. Well, that may have been a very rare case. I think more were good than not. The standards were set so high before Selmer bought Bach that when a horn or two didn't play up to that high standard, people screamed.
I also think some stores kept the same demo horns around. You would play them and they hadn't been cleaned, etc. Strads were (and are) very popular, so a lot of playing of them in a store would happen.
Unlike Conn, which had its Abilene period (which most acknowledge was a huge dip in quality) Bach seemed to have some spotty quality problems. You almost have to play them to know. But I think by and far, most Bach horns were of excellent quality and there were only a few "problems".
Someone correct me if I am wrong.
M&C |