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Original Post By:
Guest_ToeBone
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Date: 5/4/2005 |
With all the talk about the high quality Chinese-made Jenny, I thought folks might be interested in this article about the huge surge in Chinese musical instrument production. No mention of ukes, but it seems that this discussion applies to ukes just as well as the pianos and violins they do mention.
Sorry, but this link requires a free registration, so if you don't have the San Jose Mercury News newspaper itself, this is the only way to read it!
http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/business/11559332.htm
And, also, if you do sign up, don't sign up as Fred Flintstone - I already used that name :-) |
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Posted By:
Guest_Diesel
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Date: 5/4/2005 |
| Apropos of not much, a friend asked me today if I knew who was the first married couple to be shown in bed together. I didn't. Answer: Fred and Wilma. Which is more information than I am willing to give the San Jose Mercury News. (But thank you for the link; though I think I'll try to find it otherwise. Ever since our last computer got virused to death, I'm leary about giving info to anyone on-line.)
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Posted By:
Guest_Bambi
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Date: 5/4/2005 |
Well, Diesel...that's a little off topic....this is a huge problem, and I'm very sorry that my Lanakai was made in China...affordable, yes, but at what price to the US manufacturing industry. I did also buy a Flea
Here's the article Diesel:
China making noise with music instruments
IMPROVED QUALITY HELPING U.S. SALES GROW
By Tim Johnson
Knight Ridder
PINGGU, China - From violins and pianos, and on to bassoons, guitars, cellos and nearly every other musical instrument, China is taking the global music market by storm.
China already makes more violins and pianos than any other nation, and its production of brass, woodwind and electronic instruments is soaring.
Workshops in factory towns such as Pinggu, on the northeastern outskirts of Beijing, pump out thousands of instruments a month for youngsters across the United States and the Western world.
Meandering through his factory's showroom, Liu Jianli holds up various violins, cellos and guitars and reads out the low prices that undercut his overseas competitors.
``There's no way for them to stop China from taking over the market,'' Liu said, adding that his company, Beijing Yiyuan Musical Instruments, is doubling production in the next year.
Experts in the United States say Chinese companies are overcoming a rap for shoddy production, improving quality even as they write a score for global growth.
``At one point, the Chinese stuff was really awful, terrible. They'd fall apart. But guess what? They are getting better,'' said Brian Majeski, editor of the Music Trades, a 115-year-old specialty magazine. ``They are making inroads in everything. There's been an explosion of small factories.''
It's a trend that affects vast numbers of youths -- and parents -- in the United States. From 1.2 percent to 1.4 percent of the 57 million students in U.S. primary and secondary schools, public and private, play musical instruments. It's a safe bet that most of the instruments they use are made in China, even if there's no sticker or engraving noting the country of origin.
``Many teachers in the States and Europe advise their students not to buy violins from China,'' Liu said. As a result, ``a lot of our clients request unmarked violins.''
Experts in the United States say competition among Chinese factories is forcing a steady improvement in quality, even as prices remain low. While some violins still come with warped fingerboards and poorly fitted bridges, others are properly fitted.
``There are very good -- maybe not great but very good -- products coming out of China. And very soon they will have great products,'' said Joe Lamond, president of the International Music Products Association, a non-profit trade group in Carlsbad.
China produces about 370,000 of the 600,000 pianos made worldwide each year, said Zeng Zemin, general manager of the Beijing Xinghai Piano Group, one of the largest piano makers in China. China's factories also produce 900,000 of the 1.5 million wind instruments made around the globe each year, said Zeng, deputy chief of a trade group of China's instrument makers.
China has 65 percent to 70 percent of the market for violins and cellos sold in the United States. The rest come from Romania, Germany, Italy and the Czech Republic.
The price of Chinese violins ``is just ridiculous. It's very cheap. The Germans are just barely hanging on because of the Chinese prices,'' said Neil R. Lilien of Meisel Stringed Instruments in Springfield, N.J., an instrument importer and wholesaler.
Liu, the Chinese factory owner, says his operations produce 25,000 handmade violins, 6,000 cellos and 3,500 violas a year, 90 percent of them for export.
Liu pooh-poohed some European traditions for making stringed instruments, such as allowing maple and spruce to dry for decades before shaping the wood into instruments.
``They age wood 50 years before making the violins. But we Chinese are different. We've broken those traditions. We can dry wood in ovens,'' Liu said. ``There is such huge demand in the market, you can't wait 50 years.''
Traditionalists beg to differ. Zheng Quan, China's most renowned violin maker, who charges upward of $10,000 per instrument, decried the shortcuts.
``Many Chinese factories do not process wood in a scientific way,'' Zheng said. ``To make a violin takes a long time. You need natural drying, not artificial drying.''
Zheng, who uses wood dried for at least two decades, said some Chinese violin makers boil wood, then dry it, saying the technique prevents cracking.
At Xinghai Piano, though, executives have a keen eye on the domestic market as well as the export market, seeing growth of 10 percent to 15 percent a year in sales in China, a nation of 1.3 billion people with millions of new piano aficionados.
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Posted By:
Guest_Diesel
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Date: 5/4/2005 |
| Bambi, thank you for posting the article. A little kindess that is much appreciated.
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Posted By:
Guest_duane
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Date: 5/4/2005 |
| I have set up and repaired many Chinese violins in my shop. While some are better made then others, the major problems are still there; shrinking woods that develope cracks, poor quality and finishes that don't belong on a violin, mostly heavy lacquers. I hate to see the market go in this direction, but the all mighty dollar always seems to win, especially with schools systems. As for you uke buyers, I still say avoid the China/Walmart mentality! You will pay in the end.
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Posted By:
Guest_BugMeNot.Com
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Date: 5/5/2005 |
| If you don't want to give your name out to one of these free registration sites, go to BugMeNot.com, type in the URL of the site and see if they have a user name and password for that site. I use it occasionally and it works!
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