A problem with trading in classic musical instruments (to be clear; I do indeed mean classic, as opposed to classical) is that no musician who has one will give it up if there is any choice at all -- and taking advantage of those who know what the value is and yet, because of catastrophic circumstances, must accept less than the value they know they should get -- um -- thats just evil. It would seem a shame to have given up every material advantage Id ever gained in life on principals just to cheat honest musicians out of their treasures. They are conflicting aims, arent they? Dont cheat the owner of a fine piece of craftsmanship and esthetics -- pay a fair price -- but convey a fair price to a new owner. Obviously, such a thing must be possible. The whole notion of a market in the arts and humanities depends upon that balance. I would so LOVE to find that balancing point. If I ever do, I wonder if it might comprise a living. For a man with no undergrad degree, (if I say so myself) I managed to get a fairly polished up education, not least of all in the arts and the details that append to the arts. But, unfortunately for me, I was raised with a moral ethos -- and over the years Ive found no reason to abandon it. In fact, I think that if we could agree on some very simple rules of conduct that take into account how our patrons/clients/customers/bosses/supervisors/subordinates/partners etc. fare from our means of address, our means of instruction, our methods of objection -- the means of trade between all of us would be simple. I would love to work toward THAT. L, R
Posted on: Sun, 13 Jul 2014 04:24:41 +0000