 [1778]Re:Re:Re:Re:King George Marimba (664 reads) |
2002-04-21 10:44:54 |
---- why do people go for the old marimbas when they can spend a little more and get new ones? ---- While I'll defer to Bill Youhass if he chooses to join in, here are my $0.02: Part of it is history - the King George instruments have a certain historical significance that you're not going to get when buying something "new off the shelf." Another reason for buying an older instrument is to get your hands (mallets?) on some great old rosewood, back when manufacturers could really afford to be very selective about the wood they selected, could let the wood dry a good long time, and could be very selective in rejecting bars which didn't measure up to their specifications. If you can find an older (high quality) marimba in very good condition, not only are you getting rosewood which had plenty of time to dry before being shaped into bars, but if an instrument is fifty years old, the wood has had fifty years more in which to dry - a friend of mine has a King George, and its bars hold their respective pitches much better than most newer marimbas. The wood has simply had more time to settle, basically speaking. Another reason is, the best marimbas and xylophones from fifty or sixty years ago are just fantastic instruments - very well crafted pieces of musicmaking equipment. A parallel: there are some wonderful snare drum manufacturers out there, but most of us would still love to have a Gladstone in our collection. I saw the eBay King George shortly after it went up for auction, and I decided early on that I'd stay out of the bidding, mainly because I'm starting to save my nickels and dimes for a 4.6 or 5.0 marimba, and as wonderful as it would have been to obtain that King George, I figured that it would go for around $3000 at least, and that even if I had the money in pocket, that $3K would better serve my interests if put towards a different instrument. As always, YMMV. JW http://www.malletjazz.com Remote Host: |
