[Harp-L] RE: Rare/custom/old harmonicas on ebay

[John Kally <jkally3@xxxxxxx>]

Hi guys,
The first old harmonica I bought on ebay was a prewar MB thanks to  
none other than Jason Ricci who mentioned it here on harp-l, a couple  
years back.  $10  and it was a nice one!
Other than that, I usually avoid this stuff BUT  I did get a perfect  
Brendan Power CX12 extended Richter at a fair price, half of new (I  
did disassemble and clean thoroughly, of course, easy to do on  
these).  And it's stayed new, I never really got into playing it.  
Then some time back an assortment of Brendan's CX12s and a CX10  
showed up in an estate sale on ebay from a former harp-ler that is  
deceased, including a diminished and I won the bidding at around  
$100  or less a harp (absurdly cheap).  BUT that deal went south when  
paid-for  harmonicas never arrived, seller couldn't/wouldn't  trace  
them but fortunately  I did  ultimately get my money back.  Seller  
may have cut an outside-ebay deal that left me out but who knows?   
Oh, the adventures of ebay.
Most recently, I'm sure some of you saw the custom Farrell, Frank  
Huang, and Bill Romel chromatics that sold recently from the Farrell  
estate.  These were sold in fairly big lots with assorted standard  
production Hohners and Herings  and maybe  some of those may come up  
on ebay again.  Only other thing I've gotten is an old  30s Unitone  
chromatic, I got pretty cheap but not something I would ever use,  
just looks cool on the shelf.
I would say, in general, it's probably not worth the time to keep  
surfing for a bargain on custom harps as the total number out there  
is pretty minimal, condition may or may not be accurately described,  
and the occasional dishonest seller (not that big a problem, but all  
it takes is one bad deal if you're the buyer...).  Now I need to  
order a custom harp or two from Joe Spiers, since I don't think I'll  
find one under the Christmas tree!
Happy Holidays.