Willson Springs

[mbrooke]

Can someone explain why a set of Willson springs is $50. (At Hickeys.) Are they made of some exotic metal guaranteed to give me a super technique?

Mike

[davewerden]

Interesting that they cost about 50% more than the Mead springs! But these things are usually a matter of scale and efficiency. It starts at the factory. Certainly they are set up to build the horns and to have springs for each, but they may not have an efficient system for replacement parts. And Willson may not make their own, so they may already be paying for someone else's profit & efficiency. Then there is packaging. The factory gets them in bulk, I assume, but for OEM resale they have to package them. They also have to box them for shipping. The process alone costs $X. They have to ship them, which adds $X, and shipping in small quantities is inefficient cost-wise. Someone at the factory has to manage the parts orders, probably one of the skilled workers because there may not be enough work to justify a minimum-scale-type of FTE. Duties will be charged at some point, I'm sure. All that adds to the U.S. distributor's cost, and they add a profit before selling to a retailer. The retailer needs a profit. The more quantity they buy at one time, the cheaper each item is, but that does not work well if they can't sell that quantity in a reasonable time. Etc.

Somewhere a few decades ago I learned that if you wanted to buy a car via OEM parts, the cost would be several times the showroom price of the car (and that does not count assembly labor to put all those OEM parts together).

[bbocaner]

Hmm... my local repair tech ordered me a set of willson springs to try in my adams, I think he got them through DEG. I think they were $8. (total, not each)

[mbrooke]

Hmm... my local repair tech ordered me a set of willson springs to try in my adams, I think he got them through DEG. I think they were $8. (total, not each)

I just asked Hickey's about this. They said that DEG does not sell OEM Willson springs. I guess I will find out if there's a difference.

Mike

[Wendy Willson]

Willson Springs

I just asked Hickey's about this. They said that DEG does not sell OEM Willson springs. I guess I will find out if there's a difference.

Mike

I was looking for new Willson Springs for a friend. I contacted Matt Walters at Dillions and he informed me that the cost of the OEM Willson springs is very expensive. I also found out that OEM felts are also $4/felt! He mentioned another manufacturer of springs for the Willson that are much less expensive. It may be worth giving him a call at (732) 634-3399.

[Fujiifilm]

I realize this thread is a few months old, but I wanted to add that it looks like Willson has recently started selling euphonium spare parts (springs, felts, valve guides, etc) direct from the factory.

https://www.willsonbandinstruments.com/spare-parts

[euphobone1]

Great! I have been looking for some replacement felts!

[John Morgan]

I went to the Willson site and "placed an order" for springs. Their springs selection comes with springs for the 8 valve euphonium, or two sets of springs for the four valve euphonium. Cost for 8 springs and shipping to South Dakota is a mere $45 or so.

I think the price is a little ridiculous. I understand Dave's logic above, but nonetheless, it sure seems to me that Willson could stock parts at a US company and that people here in the US could buy there. I think a set of springs shouldn't cost more than $10 or $15 bucks at most.