[Harp-L] Allegedly rubbish?

[Steve Baker <steve@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Richard wrote:

<I am also simply puzzled why people who buy the
allegedly rubbish and unplayable modern Golden Melodies, Special 20s
and Marine Bands don't complain and send them back?>

I'm not sure if I understand what you're getting at here. Who exactly  
alleges that modern GMs, Sp.20s & MBs are rubbish and unplayable? I  
find the quality of these Hohner Classic models to be generally  
pretty good at the present time. I wouldn't play them otherwise. Of  
course out of the box harmonicas from all manufacturers may have fine  
tuning problems, some examples of any given model will be better than  
others and you might have the misfortune to get a lemon, but to imply  
that the above harps are of generally poor quality is misleading at  
best. My experience of playing them for nearly 40 years leads me to  
believe that the overall quality of the current Hohner Classic reed  
plates is the best it's been since the 1960s.

All Hohner harmonicas are sold under a warranty which covers  
manufacturing defects, and if you purchase an instrument which is  
genuinely defective then you certainly shouldn't hesitate to send it  
back. It will certainly be replaced. However, what constitutes such a  
defect is not always easily recognizable for the layman and I've seen  
a lot of perfectly good harps sent back without due reason. We  
usually replace them anyway.

I have yet to find a harmonica from any manufacturer (and I've tested  
them all in the course of my work for Hohner) which I would want to  
play out of the box. Factory settings need to be a compromise aimed  
at satisfying the broad customer base. Personally I tune and offset  
all my harps to my own preferences before playing them. I realize  
this doesn't exonerate manufacturers from the obligation to deliver  
the best possible quality from the factory, but I can only recommend  
players to learn the basics of tuning and offsetting. It will empower  
you to make the best out of your instruments so why not give it a try?

Steve