Re: Relative worth and critical value...

[Douglas Tate <douglas.tate@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

At 05:33 05/05/2004, William Jennings wrote:

>I don't need a $15,000 Bass Boat to catch fish.
>I don't need a boutique amp, emulators, FX pedals,
>and custom, hand-built harps to make a joyful noise.
>
>On the other hand, I gain great pleasure from paddling a
>Welsh-built, fiberglass & kevlar West Greenland style sea kayak.
>This does not make me an Inuit hunter.

What a great post William!

I will disagree/agree/enlarge (who knows which) on your point tho, and this 
is said with many fond remembrances of craftsmen I have been fortunate 
enough to work with or have known.

The specialist tool does the job easily ... if you are lucky enough to have 
been taught how to use it correctly.

The Sears tool is frequently pretty good ... and does the job well... a few 
times... and is cheap. ( I was talking to a Sears buyer a couple of years 
ago on a plane about the fact that modern electric drills don't last... he 
said "the average person who buys them will only use a drill for about an 
hour in a couple of years, if that... we get ones made to last that long 
because they are cheaper, good ones cost the earth.

I am still using specialist files and cutters I purchased when I was an 
apprentice 50 years ago. I paid what seemed like a fortune for them... they 
are superb steel and retain an edge. The stuff I buy in Home Depot and the 
like lasts me a few days before I note they are 'going off'  But, Boy! are 
they cheap!!

However... price isn't always an indicator, neither is a big name brand 
necessarily an indication of worth.

Same with instruments. Price ISN'T always an indicator. Get advice from 
people who have USED a particular instrument or customiser. Then talk to 
the customiser/maker... find out if they understand what you are talking about.
If you can afford it, get an instrument fro the person you are happiest 
with.  You will never regret having your 'specialist' tool for your job of 
making music.  The better it is, the less you know it's there.
Funnily enough, it will probably last you a lot longer as well.

Douglas t