Getzen piccolos discontinued?

[Quadstriker]

[spitvalve]

[LittleRusty]

[etc-etc]

The excerpt below is from a 2003 talk by Mr. Charlie Munger, a close friend and business associate of Mr. Warren Buffet, CEO of Berkshire Hathaway.

Quoted from
https://fs.blog/how-raising-prices-can-increase-sales/

"I have posed at two different business schools the following problem. I say, “You have studied supply and demand curves. You have learned that when you raise the price, ordinarily the volume you can sell goes down, and when you reduce the price, the volume you can sell goes up. Is that right? That’s what you’ve learned?” They all nod yes. And I say, “Now tell me several instances when, if you want the physical volume to go up, the correct answer is to increase the price?” And there’s this long and ghastly pause. And finally, in each of the two business schools in which I’ve tried this, maybe one person in fifty could name one instance. They come up with the idea that occasionally a higher price acts as a rough indicator of quality and thereby increases sales volumes.

This happened in the case of my friend Bill Ballhaus. When he was head of Beckman Instruments it produced some complicated product where if it failed it caused enormous damage to the purchaser. It wasn’t a pump at the bottom of an oil well, but that’s a good mental example. And he realized that the reason this thing was selling so poorly, even though it was better than anybody else’s product, was because it was priced lower. It made people think it was a low quality gizmo. So he raised the price by 20% or so and the volume went way up."

Also ( http://www.forbes.com/sites/dorieclark/2012/02/23/how-raising-prices-can-increase-your-sales/ ):

"Pricing is such an important signifier, says (Roberto) Cialdini, that “organizations will sometimes raise their prices and as a consequence, will be seen as the quality leader in their market,” regardless of whether they’ve upgraded their offerings."

[nieuwguyski]

Brett,

If you're still following this thread, Getzen used to advertise a straight fourth valve slide for the 940. I always planned on ordering one, but my follow-through is lacking sometimes. Would you have any of those in the spare parts, or were they built to order?
_________________
J. Notso Nieuwguyski

[Liberty Lips]

[Getzen]

[Getzen]

Raising the price would definitely make them more worth while to produce. However, I really don't think that strategy would work in the case of the 940. It was always considered as a "great for the price" piccolo. Raising the price would go against that reputation.

Honestly, there is only one, 3 stage approach that could save the 940 (or many of the other discontinued models).

Step 1: Raise the price to make it worth while to prioritize production. See above.

Step 2: Lower the production cost. Basically, make it cheaper to build. We could cut processes like hand lapping pistons and hand fitting slides.

Step 3: Simplify the design. This would help with step 2, but also lower the production time making them faster to build. This could be done by eliminating components like bracing and by loosening tolerances on things like compression, slide fit, etc...

Obviously the only way to accomplish step 2 & 3 is by jeopardizing the performance of the 940. Making it worse to sell more. Not something we are interested in doing. I would rather not make it than make it on the cheap. Similarly, I would rather not make it than to pay someone else, somewhere else, to make it with my name on it. There is far too much of that going on in this industry.

I'm not saying that we are out of the piccolo game forever. Just right now. We might get back into it at some point. We might not. Who knows, there could eventually be a 940DLX in the future. That would require a legitimate improvement to the design though. We aren't interested in simply slapping a new name and higher price tag on an old model just to boost the bottom line.
_________________
Brett Getzen
President
Getzen Company

Follow Getzen on:
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If you have a question please feel free to email me at brett@getzen.com.

[Shark01]

Maybe this is the kick in the pants I need to pull out my 4 valve Eterna from 1977 and find it a new home, as I haven’t touched it in a few years.

[Brassnose]

Would you please stop talking about a 940DLX — THAT would be a cool horn and now I want one

Sterling leadpipe, exchangeable bells in brass and copper, that cool art deco engraving from the DLX trumpets and cornets, maybe Saturn water keys, some cool bends like the X-13, a trigger on 3, a case to match, in lacquer (of course), …
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2019 Martin Schmidt eXcellence
1992 Bach 43GH/43
1989 Kühnl & Hoyer Model 15 flugel
1980/2023 Custom Blessing Scholastic C 😎
1977 Conn 6B
1951 Buescher 400 Lightweight
AR Resonance, Klier, (Frate or Curry)

[kehaulani]