There are two zipper pouches on the outside. Inside the case there are only slots for the horn, the neck and mouthpiece. The case is a fairly simple affair, intended to look like a Protec, including the characteristic stitching. Inside the case, the horn was snugly fitted and carefully wrapped in bubble wrap with the typical key blocks holding the pads closed. Inside the box was a soft case, which was well packed and surrounded by foam peanuts. The box is generically labelled "Tenor Saxophone" (in English) with no branding or other markings. Hmm, this was going to be interesting.Ī few days later the package arrives. For those who don't know, Longkou is a center of music production and is where Taishan, Mercury, Forest and several other major Chinese brands have their assembly operations. Interesting enough, the pickup location wasn't Beijing, but an address in Longkou, Shandong. I was told I should have my horn in about 5 days and shortly received a shipping confirmation saying my order was ready for courier pickup. Money was escrowed and order placed for an R54 brass tenor. He also offered a 7 day no reason return & a two years service warranty. He did say his instruments were "very good quality, but don't expect them to be like the French originals". He came back with the oft quoted line about the horns being made in Taiwan and were only available in limited quantities (yeah, right). I chatted up the shopkeeper, who was quick to point out "You do know these are copies, right?" I acknowledged I did & asked about his prices. His prices were a bit higher than the typical fake, but from his sales photos the products were all fairly convincing looking as far as the resemblance to the original. I poked around online and found a Beijing based shop that had a nice collection of fakes, including brass & unlacquered R54 altos, a brass R54 tenor, some Mark 6 alto and tenor replicas, as well as "R54" sopranos and baris. I have no idea why the Reference is popular, maybe because the logo has fewer characters than the Super Action and so it's easier to engrave? Most of the counterfeit engraving is limited to the bell logo, the body often has the common three line stack: S(S/A/T/B)S-R54, MADE IN FRANCE, and a bogus serial #. Prices are all over the map, but the majority are about US $250 - 350. I haven't found a 'nino or bass, but with a bit of effort I can probably find someone to make one up if I really wanted one. You can even find "R54" soprano and baritone horns. If you search for Selmer on any online sales portal you will get back page after page of "R54" in every possible color and configuration you can imagine. Probably the most common Chinese "Selmer" fake is a the Reference 54. I have been commenting a lot here on the counterfeit/clone/copy market here in China, so I have decided to satisfy my curiosity and do a little research.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |