Reasons to hate Selmer!

Many of you are loyal fans of Selmer I'm sure, and you probably have no idea why some people like me just love to HATE the horns that you consider to be the greatest horns ever made! Well, let me give you a little insight. I'm not trying to change your mind here. You love your Selmers, and believe me, Selmer loves you too! And for those of you who think that I'm just "talking out my ass", let me say first off that I have owned 3 Selmer saxophones; a Series III soprano, a Mark VI tenor, and a SBA alto. But, hey, at least this post should make an interesting reed! (that was a pun) Henri and Alexandre Selmer graduated from the Paris conservatory as accomplished clarinetists. Henri went on to perform in the famed Garde Republicaine band and the Opera Comique. By the early 1900s Henri had opened shop at Place Dancourt in Paris to meet the demand for his handmade reeds and mouthpieces. Soon repair work and customizing led to the manufacturing of clarinets. Selmer's clarinet reeds and mouthpieces were superior to those available at the time. As his reputation grew, so did his interest in producing other musical instruments. From 1895 to 1910, Alexandre Selmer served as principal clarinetist with the Boston Symphony Orchestra, Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, and the New York Philharmonic Orchestra. Selmer opened a small store in New York City selling as Selmer clarinets prospered after winning a gold medal at the Saint Louis exposition of the 1904 Worlds Fair. In 1918 Alexandre returned to Paris to assist Henri in their growing family business, leaving an employee, George Bundy, the rights to distribute Selmer products in the United States. This is all information taken from the Selmer website. But, who actually developed the early Selmer clarinets? It wasn't Selmer, it was Buffet! Bundy recognized the need to leave New York City in order to expand his manufacturing operations. By the 1920s Elkhart, Indiana, had established a reputation as the band instrument capital. At this time, only Selmer clarinets were French made. Selmer was selling saxophones stenciled under their name that were made mostly by CG Conn, and a few by Buescher (Geo Bundy models) and the Selmer Manhattan models made by Martin. As the demand for saxophones grew, Selmer desperately wanted to be a part of the action, but the little company above the glue company could not begin to meet the supply and demand. They nearly went out of business during the Great Depression when musical instrument sales fell. It was only due to the shrewd, deceitful, and unethical business practices of Geo Bundy that Selmer survived. While the other manufacturers were still selling at retail as well as trying to maintain individual music stores as dealers, Selmer, at the insistence of Joe Grolimund, switched to a policy of selling only at wholesale, and only to legitimate retail stores. Selmer wanted only certain dealers to sell Selmer products and Selmer products ONLY. Geo Bundy continued to have misdealings with Conn and Buescher through the 1940's and 1950's. Perhaps you have heard of the Walmart/Rubbermade scandle. Similar business practices were executed by Bundy. Selmer purchased the Buescher Band Instrument Company just as it was being closed for good in 1963. the actual purchase was by the Bundy Band Instrument Company, a subsidiary of H. & A. Selmer, Inc. The Buescher name and most of the lines were perpetuated by Selmer. Selmer bastardized and desicrated Buescher, eventually renaming the horns "Bundy" The Selmer company continues to gain ground after purchasing Buescher; the company that they themselves practically ran into bankrupsy. They purchased Brilhart; maker of mouthpieces in 1966, and slowly set to take over CG. Conn. Prior to World War I, CG. Conn was the largest supplier of musical instruments to the US Military. Conn also realized the importance of education, and encouraged many schools to introduce music into their curriculum. As the professional band instrument market began to decline in the 1950's, Conn fought hard to promote music in the schools, even funding various orginizations. Conn introduced the Director's model horns in 1955, to satisfy the need for affordable saxophones that were durable yet affordable, and easy to play. Selmer, and Bundy Band Instruments, became the largest supplier of musical instruments to schools, selling their horns at wholesale prices. Conn sold a better product at a reasonable price, and used the proceeds to help fund other music and educational orginizations. Selmer Bundy sold garbage that was just.....cheap, and used the proceeds to buy up and bastardize every company they can get their greedy hands on! The original Mark VI was a great horn. A lot of research and developement went into the original Mark VI. The original design was based on a larger bore French Dolnet saxophone, which Selmer had perfected with a little help from the American companies; mainly Conn and Buescher. But the profit-minded Selmer company continued to offer less horn for more money year after year, making changes to the Mark VI, until it was obvious that they needed to introduce a new horn all together. So, as you know, along comes the Mark VII, then the Super Action 80.....every horn proclaimed to be "The new Mark VI". Don't be "Conned" by Conn-Selmer! (Another pun) Today what horn is NOT part of the Conn Selmer group? VERY FEW! And of those few that remain, it's only a matter of time! Except for maybe Yamaha. Selmer wants to buy out and bastardize any company who makes a competitive product, so you have 2 choices; either pay through the nose for a French Selmer Paris, or buy one of their Chinese or Taiwanese made horns sold under one of the various names they have desicrated!

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