Patrick_D Posted October 8, 2010 Share Posted October 8, 2010 (edited) Hello all, I'm hoping for some feedback on an instrument brand that i'm starting to see more and more with my beginning brass students. The brand name is RS Berkeley Now... these instruments for what I can find on the internet are priced right between the run of the mill wal-mart ISO's and the normal brand name school instruments (yamaha, etc.). Probably why they are so appealing to the rental companies to give to kids as rentals. I have tried the student model trumpet and trombone out and was not personally impressed with the response, espcially in the upper register. When I called the company they said "did you try different mouthpieces?" After which I of course said "yes, but i'm not going to have my kids change mouth pieces 20 times in every song each time they have to play in the upper register of the horn." Anyone else out there had any experience with this company or their instruments? Thanks in advance for your reviews and suggestions. Patrick Edited October 8, 2010 by Patrick_D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HeatherM Posted October 8, 2010 Share Posted October 8, 2010 Is this the Berkely as in Berkley & Jensen? BJ's wholesale club instruments? Yikes!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HornsUp Posted October 8, 2010 Share Posted October 8, 2010 Ask your trusted local brass repair technician if he can service these off-brand impostors. You'll quickly find out what a bargain they aren't. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G-horns Posted October 9, 2010 Share Posted October 9, 2010 Ask your trusted local brass repair technician if he can service these off-brand impostors. You'll quickly find out what a bargain they aren't. Amen to that! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G-horns Posted October 9, 2010 Share Posted October 9, 2010 A few years back one of the kids in our middle school had a trumpet that was purchased at CostCo. One of the valves literally disintegrated in the casing. He ended up buying a Yamaha. Another kid had a bargain clarinet that was so bad that it couldn't be tuned. And, to join the chorus with HornsUp, some repair shops won't even touch one of these instruments because it will cost the customer more than they paid for it. The parent who is looking for a bargain instrument will be the parent who will not get it repaired, maintained or otherwise want to spend a dime for the good of their young musician. "I bought you an instrument. I'm not going to be spending money on new (corks, pads, EVEN REEDS) all the time just because your teacher says you have to get it fixed." One local district actually acquired a substantial number of new band instruments and rents them to the students at a competitive rate. Everybody wins. I would tell the parents up front that any instrument purchased new from a bargain source will not be acceptable. Period. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Posted October 9, 2010 Share Posted October 9, 2010 That's something I tell a lot of customers: "You get what you pay for." We see a lot of string instruments come in they got for fifty bucks online, and can't believe it will cost about $300 to set it up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FHdork Posted October 9, 2010 Share Posted October 9, 2010 Call Kevin Powers over in Monroe Michigan - Michigan Musical Instrument Repair, is the name of his company, I think - If the Dundee HS you teach at is in Dundee MI, that is - He regularly travels to both China and eastern Europe for horn building business - he knows all the crap out there - Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Soprano Martin Posted October 10, 2010 Share Posted October 10, 2010 Your best move is as a director, have a selection of brands you know and trust. Have a meeting with parents before they start picking instruments, and discuss the importance of picking a quality horn, etc and put it all in a document they can take home. Be sure and stress how a bad instrument can hinder a kid's progress and how many shops won't likely service them when things go bad. I've done this for my band kids and while they do still sometimes get the cheaper horns in class, when something goes wrong they can't say they didn't know it was total crap. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Patrick_D Posted October 12, 2010 Author Share Posted October 12, 2010 Yes, thanks for all of your replies. I'll clarify my problem. I've been doing this for 10 years, and (I was hoping) by the name of my post that it was implied that I understand what instruments i like, and I know how to present them to parents. I don't accept the walmart brands, etc. THE PROBLEM IS: We have two instrument rental companies. One of them has started to rent the kids RS Berkeley instruments. Interestingly, the instruments are made in NJ, only 11 minutes from Berkeley Heights, NJ, where the rental company is based. My assumption that I can not prove is that the instruments are the music store's brand that they are trying to make go national (I'm in upstate NY). The instruments are "endorsed" by tons of musicians (who I can only assume are being paid to make these endorsements, so you can't really trust it). If you want to see the instrument company, its at rsberkeley.com Again, I am basically looking for a review from someone who has actually heard of these monsters, I'm not looking for advice about how to run my program or how to introduce instruments to parents. This is a rental company problem. Thanks again Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G-horns Posted October 15, 2010 Share Posted October 15, 2010 Yes, thanks for all of your replies. I'll clarify my problem.I've been doing this for 10 years, and (I was hoping) by the name of my post that it was implied that I understand what instruments i like, and I know how to present them to parents. I don't accept the walmart brands, etc. THE PROBLEM IS: We have two instrument rental companies. One of them has started to rent the kids RS Berkeley instruments. Interestingly, the instruments are made in NJ, only 11 minutes from Berkeley Heights, NJ, where the rental company is based. My assumption that I can not prove is that the instruments are the music store's brand that they are trying to make go national (I'm in upstate NY). The instruments are "endorsed" by tons of musicians (who I can only assume are being paid to make these endorsements, so you can't really trust it). If you want to see the instrument company, its at rsberkeley.com Again, I am basically looking for a review from someone who has actually heard of these monsters, I'm not looking for advice about how to run my program or how to introduce instruments to parents. This is a rental company problem. Thanks again Ahhh. Now I see your problem. You would rather not endorse a company that is renting crap, but don't want to exclude them if the instruments, overall, are acceptable student models. I sincerely doubt that these are being made in New Jersey. More likely, they are coming out of the shipping container in New Jersey. I'd ask for local musician or teacher references who can be contacted to verify the endorsement or level of satisfaction. Keep in mind that even the best student model instruments will vary in performance from item to item. I just checked the rsberkeley website. I personally know some of the endorsers, all of whom are sax players, and they are listed under the Virtuoso line of saxes. I may see some of them over the weekend or on Monday night. I'll ask the hard question - "What do you think of the student model instruments?" Will report back on Tuesday. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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