[Harp-L] Re: Review of the Beta-Harp

[Ben Bouman <fitgo@xxxxxxxxxx>]

Thanks for the nice review..!!

This year I've been working on finding/making new tools and I must say that I've found 2 tools that make my custom job on a harmonica much easier.

Therefore I've changed some things in my webshop...  biggest news is that I now offer the Beta X-tra for the price of my old model 1 but it has the features of my old model 2.
The price for the old model 1 was ( in euros € 85 ) the old model 2 was € 110.

So, now you can get a Beta X-tra for € 85/$ 110 ... all reedslots are completely embossed, reeds are arced/curved and regapped, tuning is checked twice. This makes the harp perfect for " old school" tongueblocked playing but also, the harp is overblow/overdraw friendly.
And the "best news...on all my models ( Beta Basic ( € 75/$90), X-tra € 85/$110 and X-treme( €140/$165  ) I offer full service/warranty. If you, let's say, break a reed in 2 or 3 years after receiving the harp, send it back to me and I'll repair the harp and you only pay for shipping costs!

Very soon I will have my  new website on-line with more details about my customizing jobs, photos, videos etc etc. The webshop is as usual on-line.

And there's more news... you can upgrade a beta-harp.

I have beautiful black corian combs, exclusively made by Hetrick.. these combs are ONLY 5 mm thick ( thin?).
All players who tried/play one of these combs were amazed by what a difference they make. 
The harp looks much thinner/smaller, the response is faster and the looks are great.

I also offer handsprayed black and white coverplates ( limited stock !) with my logo on it.
here you can see of the new betaharps.

https://www.box.com/s/715b433bf3c9193cd3ea


My turnaround time for a Basic is 1 or 2 days after payment, for the X-tra it is at the moment 3 to 4 days.
For the X-treme it is  5 to 10 days at most.

Same turnaround time goes for the Session Steel Betaharps.
The Session steel can be upgraded to a 6mm solid dymondwood comb from Hetrick and the custom coverplates !!

Please feel free to email me on ben@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx with any question you have. If possible I'll be glad to answer them all.

And..what I almost forgot to mention.. when you receive a betaharp and you have an urgent question, you get a 15 minute skype chat with me for free!!  Any question will be answered....you can ask about tuning/set-up  , or maybe bending, breathing techniques etc etc.

I teach students all over the world through Skype so I'm also avaible for Skype lessons. 



finest regards



Ben Bouman
www.customharmonicashop.nl
www.harmonicainstituut.nl
www.marble-amps.com

Op 23 sep 2012, om 22:58 heeft Theo Beard het volgende geschreven:

> My review of the Ben Bouman's Beta-Harp;
>  
> After a couple year playing the harmonica more seriously. I was looking for a better instrument. I felt like I was slowed down by my harmonica. 
>  
> I ordered a couple custom from different customizer and in the end bought a little set of Ben Bouman beta-harps level 3. 
>  
> The harmonica is based on the Seydel 1847 so the harmonica will last a very long time with the steel reeds.  
>  
> They play perfectly, they are in tune, every bend is precise and all the overblow and overdraw are avaible in tongue-block. 
>  
> The chords are beautiful and rich.  
>  
> Ben is super fast, my harmonicas arrived after 3 weeks. My first order of a C harmonica was ready in a week.  
>  
> The price is also very reasonable. He can sell optimized 1847 and Session steels for the same price as you get at them at the store.  
>  
> He fully emboss, gap, profile reed higher models for far less than most customizer and he gave me a great deal on top of that for the set. 
>  
> Ben is a good musician and harmonica teacher so I know he can play all the techniques. He is also one of the first doing custom harmonica in Europe. 
>  
> I'm extremely satisfied with his work and would highly recommend him for any harmonica need. 
>  
> You can check him on youtube and on his website;
> 
> http://www.youtube.com/user/fitgo
> http://www.customharmonicashop.com/