@dottlejockey:
All “Skippable Drivel” but should be of interest to many.
I have two Muxiangs - one, the straight 102XT in ebony I smoke outdoors frequently, (nicknamed "Uncle Henry"), which is a great smoker, and this one, which I have smoked in the past but because of the beautiful nature of the pearwood it's made of (finest grain on pearwood I've ever seen, not that I've seen much), and it's standing nature, exercised due to the fact that I scorch the heck out of anythng wood that's not rusticated . . . . . I've elected to leave it on display one of the pairs of stereo tower speakers I have in my living room, where it gets commented on quite a lot.
View attachment 406205
The pic is pretty dark, but I assure you the wood grain is very nice, even outstanding.
Your pipe is exceptionally beautiful, and i applaud your effort at posting this fine brand that seems to be infected with the same communicable disease that other fine and more financially available offerings seem to be stigmatized with.
I’d make a direct comparison to violins and pipes here. When I was a young aspiring professional, I purchased (back in about 1975 or so) my concert instrument, a modern Italian made by the then unknown Giovanni Cavani, an absolutely outstanding instrument (there ARE objective standards in fiddles, NOT based on tone, as promulgated by the violin dealers and those with bucks), which at that time cost me $16,000 dollars, which I lowered somewhat by trading in my previous, and inferior Trinelli, also a modern Italian. I still ended up paying 8 grand, a heck of a lot of money for a young guy paying off a university education.
Real
playing concert instruments have a neutral sound – sound is manufactured by the performer, using such techniques as point of contact, bow speed, angle of bow, and other such skills which good violinists possess and bad violinists and amateurs do not. And above all, instant response is necessary - absolutely NO TIME LAG between the bow and the sound coming out. If the violin does not have instant response, you get an effect like playing a piano with the pedal down, blurring the sound. Virtuouso music CANNOT be played on such a violin, no matter what i'ts cost or inherent value.
It's like paintings - they are not valued for artistic reasons, but for the name of the maker. Many great painters produced turkeys. They still command premium prices. And great works of art by unknown artists languish.
All violinists, especially Concertmasters, have two fine instruments, their concert fiddles, and a backup, which is almost always analogous to Brogs, Muxiangs, and other no-namie student or beginners instruments, which also have these qualities, because none of us can afford two “classy” axes. I was very fortunate in the fact that my Cavani became hot, and by the time I gave it to my most promising student, who is now a professional, was worth about $250,000 when I retired. That's a lot of bucks, even by today's standard.
What the violin dealers and publications promulgate to susceptibly snobby pros and students and the general public is a myth. A hoax. Fake news. Some no-namies and even cheap student violins have outstanding playing characteristics and even though their actual dollar value is very low, I have one of those now, and more than one professional has offered to by it from me at a very good price for these reasons. Nope. I’ll give it to a student when such things as arthritis, final professional detachment, or death, comes first.
Thus ends the post (rant??) I promulgate this information to all in the field of violins and music whenever the situation presents itself. Guess I've now done it to pipe afficianados.
You were forewarned that this was Skippable Drivel, eh?
️ on the side.