We have just delivered a new 5.0 Octave Practice Marimba to a customer in Illinois. Here is an email we received after the customer received his marimba:
>>Matt,
I recently received my practice marimba and I must say that it is awesome in every way and was well worth the wait and money. I have to be honest with you – dealing with Coe Percussion (a.k.a. – you) was a leap of faith. I never touched one of your instruments before – I had only seen them on the internet. However, I had a feeling, when I dialed your number for the first time, and you actually answered the phone, “Coe Percussion, this is Matt”, that dealing with you was going to be a good experience. I can now say from firsthand experience that dealing with you has been a pleasure. In this day and age, I can’t call the local music store about something as simple as a drum head without getting put on hold and transferred two or three times and here you are answering the phone on the second ring.
When the instrument arrived, the boxes were in great condition and when I opened the boxes I was amazed at how meticulously the parts were wrapped in thick paper and then wrapped in bubble wrap. The instrument was so thoroughly wrapped that it took me way longer to unwrap all of the protective packaging than it did to set it up (which was fine by me considering I was very concerned about it being shipped to the Chicago suburbs all the way from Florida).
I set up the instrument in my bedroom and upon initially unwrapping the tone bars, I draped them across my bed. Since the instrument is wider than my bed, the highest notes and lowest notes were hanging over the sides of the bed. I could not resist grabbing the cord, raising the lowest notes in the air and tapping one of them with my finger. I was amazed at their tone and resonance. Especially when you consider that the bar was next to a bed, above carpet and only being struck with my finger. I could feel the bar resonating through the cord when I was holding it. Even the frame is awesome – and I mention this because I had some initial concerns about a tubular frame beneath such a wide instrument. But those concerns faded quickly when I started to put the frame together – it was rock solid. The unexpected, built in levels on both ends of the frame were a pleasant surprise also. Obviously, all of these great individual components made for a great practice marimba when it all came together! You even advised me on mallet selection – which is a service I don’t think could have received from the “bigger” companies.
I just wanted to say Thank You. Once I knew I wanted a five octave rosewood marimba, I just wasn’t really interested in anything else (not even at a good price). The only problem was, I couldn’t afford one. Your practice marimba has allowed to get into a five octave instrument with rosewood bars at a much more reasonable price. When the time is right, I fully intend on having you put resonators on this great instrument. I would recommend your company to any percussionist on the globe.
Thanks for doing what you do, in this day and age, it’s nice to know that a company like yours exists.
Rocco Marcello
Lombard, IL
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