Shires pre-bankruptcy?

[CheeseTray]

1. Thanks, Posaunus.

2. MrHCinDE, I'm actually not at all pessimistic about the future of high-end horn building or mouthpiece making. I think that the combination of innovative makers, a greater capacity for material analysis, and more sophisticated machine tools, bodes well for the future. That's even before considering the most important element - that the craftsmen making, modifying, and repairing instruments continue to innovate - continually raising the bar as well. In my personal experience, it seems that there are A LOT more world-class brass techs and quality mouthpiece makers now than at any time since I came up almost 40 years ago.

That being said, I'm a trombone player and not versed in the possibilities/challenges of 'industrializing' artisan-level craft. This is totally armchair quarterbacking on my part. I think that makers such as those you mentioned above, and new (innovative) ones as well, will always be around. Some will find the sweet spot and thrive. Others will struggle or fade. All will, to some extent, be subject to the whims of who's the 'it' thing of the moment.

I suppose that my point could be summed up by saying that I'm not sure that there is a legitimate solution to striking an ideal balance between, acceptable cost, quality, and scaling up to meet demand. The trombone community will probably always have to wait for items that, though partially mass-produced, are still mostly hand assembled with parts produced on too small a scale to be cheap. The community's consistent patience is actually a critical element of long term support for the viability of these businesses. Just my two cents.

[BGuttman]

We've had niche makers "forever". Minick was "the" guy back about 40 years ago. We have an awful lot today. Benson, M&W, Inderbinen, Haagmann, DaCarbo, and others I can't remember. Some become larger because they have a supporting structure like Edwards (branch of Getzen) and now Shires (branch of Eastman). Some will have their time in the sun and then become desired relics like Minick. Or become forgotten like the Monet trombone.

We have some techs who can do wonderful modifications to conventional instruments. Steve Shires got his start making custom trombone parts at Osmun Brass (a bell section with a Thayer valve). Pros will generally use these folks to make custom instruments for themselves (and sometimes their students). We will (hopefully) continue to have people like this making innovations that the mainstream manufacturers will adopt.

Brass making isn't as fractured as orchestral strings, where luthiers make only a few instruments a year that command outrageous prices, while there are huge manufacturers making instruments for the rest of us.