[TPIN] Monette/Polarization/Criticism

[Greg Goodknight]

Steve Roiland wrote:
> In my conversations with Dave Monette I can say without qualification 
> that he believes in himself and walks his talk.  Is his direction in 
> re-engineering the trumpet correct?  Any engineer knows that there are 
> trade offs.  Without people like Monette pushing the envelope on 
> engineering, the only direction we have prevailing in trumpet 
> construction is mass production in Asia.
>
> Steve Roiland

I've recently met a Monette player who loves their trumpet and the 
personal service they get from Dave Monette. However, that apparently 
comes with the price of not challenging anything that Dave says is 
necessary. Like just taking being chewed out if your o-ringed heavy 
bottom caps are not correctly torqued; iirc slightly tighter for valves 
1 and 3, but certainly not actually tight in any usual sense of the 
word. That one example is borderline insanity, there being no chance 
whatsoever that valve cap torque makes any physical difference.

There is no doubt Monette is a talented designer and maker of trumpets 
but it is unclear how well his metaphysical business model will survive 
him, or his cat. We are lucky that the trumpets themselves will last a 
very long time.

-Greg