[Harp-L] Re:Black label myth

[SONNYTONE@xxxxxxx]

After all that was said, let me tell you after going through at least a  
thousand elements in my 9 year ebay career. The black back element IMO is The  
most fluctuating concerning tone and strength out of all of them. And the ohms,  
confirmed by my mic repair person: Chuck Gurney who is at 
_cgurney@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx (mailto:cgurney@xxxxxxxxxxxxx) , don't make a darn  bit of difference. So 
a 1.6K blackie could have more bottom end and output than  someone hyping a 
"whopping" 1.3K ohm element. Chuck plays harp, as I sure you do  Robert, so when 
he gets the element in he can tell if he has affected it. Rob  knows all too 
well the detail one must do to take a whole CR or CM apart and try  and rework 
them. Now with Blackies was talking about almost 60 year elements,  WHO knows 
what environment they saw, were they left out in the heat, were they  in a 
damp, cold basement so the inside got rusty, crapshoot. Rob, I don't feel I  had 
something to do with the rising prices. I was very content 5 - 6 years ago  
to buy them at under $100, but as I kept losing snipes and seeing where they  
ended up, that is when I HAD to adjust my snipe if I wanted to take the chance  
and keep some in stock for my customers. And yes, Technobird builds my 
shells,  and I have tried to work with him to even improve his product more. Chuck 
does  this as a living, discuss with him his terms. He is as fair as they come. 
I have  heard of the two people, one in Germany and one in Maine, that 
supposedly rewind  them. But who knows how long it takes and how much they charge. 
You already have  an investment by buying the element, so why not take a chance 
and give Chuck an  email, I know many of your have your great elements and 
then those 75% strong  ones that he just might make a winner. If he can't, after 
all the labor, I doubt  he will charge you the regular price which you need 
to discuss with him, but he  is VERY reasonable. I think it is great Robert 
that you helped out guys, good  karma will always follow you. I believe in that 
same principle when I sell a  mic. I know every harp player thinks, HE's not 
going to sell me his best  elements, he would keep them for himself. Trust me, I 
have about 5 - 6 mics and  don't play out that much, just test my amps so 
they are consistent. The exact  way I talk about mics with a customer is ask them 
what they have first. No  matter what it is, my exact line is: Try out what 
you have first, if it works  for you, great, if not, I do have the best mics 
for the authentic Chicago sound.  Sometimes they order the mic with the amp as 
they don't have anything decent.  Trust me, I aired myself out to the person 
over the phone about the 3 nasty,  disrespectful emails he sent me and left it 
at that. He said, awe I was just  breaking you b#$$s. Like I need extra 
pressure and BS right now. 
Robert Ross, please contact me offlist so we can talk a bit. I have a blah  
blackie and other CR's and CM's going to Chuck today, lets hope those $190  
investments don't put me in any more of a losing situation than already is. The  
same is true for the white lable CR's, countless numbers I just sent to Chuck  
and he said they could not be brought, so I leave it with him for parts. I 
could  never fathom putting my name on ebay to sell an element. Sometimes 
crystals may  become weaker, but keep their tone, mostly they get sharp as they lose 
it. So in  that case just boost your amp. My crystal mic mod is not something 
new,  but I took the time to truly research it and spent a lot of time to 
make  sure it was right. i still agree there is an element of excitement when all 
the  rest of the harp players buy mics off ebay, there's that hope it is a 
winner.  NOTE. I bought an original black label tag late 40's from a guy and it 
worked  great, yet in 3 months I plugged it in and it sounded like my speakers 
were  blown. I sent two off to Gib, so I will report how long it takes and 
what the  results for you. Enough, I just wanted to finalize this. And why do I 
HAVE to  snipe. Because if someone sees me bidding on an element they may 
think if I am  bidding on it, it must be good, so that would raise the price even 
higher. 



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