[Harp-L] Fuzzy

["jross38@xxxxxxxxxxx" <jross38@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

Yes, I'm callous.  

Harmonicas are inherently gross, worse than most wind instruments, IMO.  One should never play someone else's harp without taking it apart and thoroughly cleaning it, and were I a harmonica technician that would automatically be my first step (I know at least one who does that, including the aforementioned ultrasound bath).  Given that as a starting point, I don't see how the original level of filth matters all that much.

If you refuse to accept harps that are too filthy, fine.  That's your choice.  If you loose customers because of that, well, that's also a choice.  But as someone who has been quite literally covered from head to toe in thick black soot as part of his job on more than one occasion, I just can't seem to find the sympathy.  And I'm neither trolling for sympathy nor complaining--the organ I'm thinking of in that example is one I would gladly work on again.  Hell, I have donated some of my time to it.  Because it's what I want to do, and those are the sacrifices inherent in the job.  If I took pleasure working on fiddly little clockwork mechanism devices like harmonicas, then their inherent filth would be part of that job too.

And if I sound callous, well, I guess I am.  There are a lot of things I can feel a lot of sympathy for with harmonica techs: the ridiculously low profit margin; the incredibly cheap customers; the pressure to do things both right and quickly; unrealistic expectations of performance; customers unable to discern very important differences in quality; etc...  But the need to clean the harmonica of the gunk it naturally consumes, no, not so much.



JR Ross