Trinity College Pro Zouks & OM

[Dustin]

Did anyone notice that those Pro zouks and OM from Trinity College dropped in price a whole lot?
http://elderly.com/new_instruments/items/TC625.htm

[Markkunkel]

Yep.... they look nice for that price. Still, as others have pointed out, Gypsy and Petersen and a few others are available right at or close to that price point and to my eyes and ears handbuilt in a small shop is almost always worth hunting for.

MK

[astroboy]

Not everywhere -- see here (http://www.amazon.com/Trinity-College-TM-625-Mandolin-Hardshell/dp/B001V5JIQA/ref=sr_1_5?s=musical-instruments&ie=UTF8&qid=1277940246&sr=1-5). :grin:

Seriously, Amazon probably ain't plugged in to the extent Elderly is ... though it's sort of an odd coincidence that Amazon's image seems to be the same one Elderly uses for the headstock-front shot (with some scaling). :confused: Maybe it's a Trinity College stock image.

[capt_blood]

That's a clearance price at Elderly, which suggests to me that the original price on that instrument was higher than anyone was willing to pay.

[Dustin]

That's a clearance price at Elderly, which suggests to me that the original price on that instrument was higher than anyone was willing to pay.

I was thinking that too. Either that or they were discontinuing them?

[Jim MacDaniel]

Either is a good guess given their original pricepoint. Perhaps no one bought them from Elderly so they no longer intend to sell them, or maybe Saga is considering them a failed experiment if dealers didn't reorder them.

(If they are discontinued, I wonder if they will eventually become a collectors' item due to their limited numbers on the market? ;) )

[crazymandolinist]

^Interesting notion.

[allenhopkins]

Either is a good guess given their original pricepoint. Perhaps no one bought them from Elderly so they no longer intend to sell them, or maybe Saga is considering them a failed experiment if dealers didn't reorder them...(If they are discontinued, I wonder if they will eventually become a collectors' item due to their limited numbers on the market?)

So, if no one wants them now, and Saga stops having them made, people will want them later...? The problem with the fancier TC's seemed to be that TC was seen as an entry-level instrument, and musicians past entry level went on to get small-builder OM's and bouzoukis. There can't be a very large market for professional-grade instruments of this type, and a large company like Saga relies on getting at least some broad-market appeal.

One of the things that has pleasantly surprised me over the past few years has been the apparent success of Gold Tone, a company that sells a wide variety of "niche" instruments -- cello banjos (in 4-string and 5-string), ukulele-banjos, "banjolas" (mandola body, 5-string banjo neck), tiny little travel instruments, etc. There can't be more than a few thousand musicians in the world interested in some of those instruments, yet GT makes them available.

Perhaps just not a big enough market niche for a "pro-grade" Trinity College OM or bouzouki. Did those who tried them, find that they were superior to the regular TC's in musical quality, as well as having fancier appearances?