Music Trade Review

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Musical Merchandise Section of The Music Trade Review
Buegeleisen & Jacobson
Issue Special Catalog
Buegeleisen & Jacobson, musical merchandise
distributors, New York, are sending to the trade
a special catalog in which is listed a large line
of musical instruments and parts so priced as
to allow the dealer an extra margin of profit.
All the merchandise listed is new and perfect,
but because these particular lines do not fit the
new catalog descriptions in the general Buegel-
eisen & Jacobson catalog reductions in price
have been made which the dealer can use to
his advantage in either passing the saving on
to the consumer by offering special sales, or
can take the advantage of an extra profit him-
self.
In this catalog it is stated: "The major in-
dustries of the United States have pledged them-
selves to make 1930 one of the biggest years
in the history of American business, and are
starting it off with a bang by placing employ-
ment over its former level. This interest will
reflect on all fields of endeavor and the music
trade should be in a position to take an ad-
vantage of an economic situation which effects
us all. The merchandise herein listed is new
and perfect and priced to allow you an extra
margin of profit. This is your opportunity to
start the new year right."
Buegeleisen & Jacobson shall be glad to send
this special catalog to anyone who does not
happen to receive it from the press.
indirectly. This will be dealt with more fully
in a later issue, but it earns mention here be-
cause of its direct bearing on the rapidity of
the dealer's turnover.
Promotional Value. This feature has several
angles, but the most valuable would seem to be
the way in which sales of fretted instruments
can be made to lead to sales of other instru-
ments. A tenor banjo or a mandolin player is
about ninety per cent able to play a mandolin
or a tenor banjo, and the same thing is true of
the ukulele or guitar player, and the standard
banjo or plectrum banjo player. But the great-
est value of fretted instruments in this connec-
tion comes from a realization of their peculiar
efficiency as preparatory to all the instruments
of the bowed-string family. It is a fact that one
year of study on the mandolin, and one on the
violin will make a better violinist out of the
beginner student than three years of study on
the violin alone. The beginner rarely has a
well-developed sense of pitch, yet if a mandolin
is in tune there is no way to play it out of
(Continued from page 37)
of a selling argument the dealer can have. And
it also means that the dealer will be remarkably
free from the expense and annoyance of mak-
ing good in some way for customers who find
that theL purchase is not standing up under use
as it should.
Technic. This again is more important to the
dealer than might appear. It is easier to learn
to play fretted instruments than other types.
The same amount of effort, time and interest
will enable the student to play more and better
than with any other instrument. The writer
knows of students wlio were in no way excep-
tionally talented, that were able to play well
enough after three months of study to appear
creditably in public performance, which is
surely not possible with other instruments.
Satisfied customers are assets, dissatisfied ones
are liabilities, whether the dealer knows it or
not.
Convenience. Not only are fretted instru-
ments convenient for the dealer to carry, they
are convenient for the player. They can be
easily taken any place as none of them are un-
duly heavy or bulky; and any of them can fur-
nish music that is satisfactorily complete in
itself, because they can supply both harmony
and melody and so are not dependent upon an
accompanying instrument for musical complete-
ness. This makes them especially valuable as
outdoor and vacation instruments, and gives the
dealer a logical reason for pushing their sale at
a time when there is not much chance of selling
other instruments.
Turnover. Fretted instruments are paid for
with reasonable quickness when sold on the in-
stalment plan, and when it does become neces-
sary to repossess them they are usually, be-
cause of their sturdiness, in good condition.
Furthermore, with no other instrument is it so
easy to make one sale encourage others. No
other instruments lend themselves .so well to
informal and non-professional ensembles, and
with the right sort of intelligent promotional
work small groups of players can be expanded
into large orchestras and clubs, which means
of course more sales of instruments. Then the
publicity value of an efficient musical group of
this sort in a city or community is very great,
when the dealer's name is connected with it even
tune; so by the time the student has become a
fairly proficient mandolinist he has developed
the sense of correct intonation necessary for
him to have before he can become a violinist.
Then the left-hand technic of the two instru-
ments is identical and he has thus only to mas-
ter the Bow and the different way of holding
the instrument when he changes to the violin.
The beginner on the violin is trying to k-arn
to do six things at once, none of which he
knows how to do, and any of which is very
difficult for him to learn to do by itself.
Finally, the student can play two instruments
or more whose technic does not interfere with
each other, and the dealer has sold several in-
struments instead of one, and the attendant sales
of music and supplies are just that much larger.
Possibilities of this sort certainly justify a well-
planned consistent "follow-up" on the part of
the dealer.
I know there are questions and objections
that can be raised, but wait until this series is
completed—perhaps the answer will appear.
Stimulating
Strings! F
TRING instrument sales
S ulated
have been decidedly stim-
since the new Vega
Fretted Instruments
designs and new low priced
models made their appear-
ance. Every model has
been greatly enhanced
in eye appeal by new
distinctive finishing
touches, new pyralin
effects and c o l o r s .
That these new de-
signs and models have
had their effect, is
proved by a substantial gain in our own sales in comparison
with a year ago.
The Professional Model with its new resonator, flashier .fingerboard
and a distinctive alligator case is unusual at $150. The higher priced Vega-
phone Models are strikingly beautiful and correspondingly unequalled at
their prices. There are Banjos and more Banjos but the Vegaphone is the
standard of comparison and more important the steady seller.
—and Quitars
' I ' HERE is one string instru-
J_ ment now making steady
gains in popularity and that is
the guitar. Both Spanish and
Hawaiian styles are favored and
are being widely sold.
The
Vega Guitar was the first instru-
ment to establish the Vega repu-
tation for tone and quality. Prac-
tically a half century of experi-
ence in guitar making assures a
supreme instrument.
New Models
The new Vega all mahogany
guitar full standard size and
made in regular six string or
tenor model retails at $32.50.
A new banjo model—The
"Crescent" with 23 inch scale ex-
tension resonator and flanges, all
mahogany. Retail $32.50.
The
161 Columbus Ave.
39
. Co.
Boston, Mass.