Quality Control

[Winslow Yerxa <76450.3230@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

TO: internet:harp-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx

I agree with everything Harvey says in yesterday's post.

I just wanted to make the distinction between manufacturing
ERRORS - stuck/maladjusted reeds - and fine adjustment for
optimization beyond basic playability. In some ways, these are
just two different points on the same curve; the question
becomes, how far along that curve can the manufacturer afford to
go before his product becomes too expensive for the consumer?

In many cases, optimization goes beyond general acceptability and
becomes a matter of personal preference, as in matters of tuning
and reed offset.

We have a right to expect a playable instrument out of the box
99.9 percent of the time. However, it doesn't seem likely we'll
get it with the present trends. The Harley Davidson story is
encouraging, but there's a lot more profit in a motorcycle than
in a harmonica. But if there's a way that delivered quality in
such a low priced item can be improved, I'm all for it. Trouble
is, the closer you get to people acquainted with the inner
workings of Hohner AG, the thicker become the stories of
outrageous pigheadedness and solipsism.

When I spoke of Hohner bungling the job of automation, I should
make clear that this DOES NOT APPLY to the U.S. versions of the
Marine Band, Special 20, Golden Melody, or any chromatics. These
are still assembled by traditional means (i.e. by hand and
hand-operated devices) FOR THE NORTH AMERICAN MARKET ONLY.

None of the quality problems reported on the list have anything
to do with Hohner's automated production.

    >the fact that you indic[a]ted that they 'they've bungled the job
    >of automation pretty badly' leads me to believe that they may
    >be living with production problems at final assembly and
    >finishing that actually are caused by the automated processes
    >and may be the root cause of some of the problems reported.

Right you are. A friend with a background in quality control
toured both the old and the new factories, and had some pretty
sad things to report. I gave a report on this a few months back;
plow the archives. There are no marketing blurbs about this
stuff. Hell, Hohner functionairies tried to boot the tour group
out of the factory even though the tour had been planned by
Hohner as an integrated part of the World Harmonica
Championships.

However, the old machinery is breaking down, and Hohner is
loath to replace it - it is not always possible to duplicate -
old parts no longer available, etc. Only the Modular Series - Big
River, new styles of Blues harp and MeisterKlasse - are marketed
in the U.S. in their modular (automated production) forms, along
with some cheappp models.

ALL the diatonic production marketed in Europe is now modular,
and the players are bitching about it - bad fundamental design,
quality control completely aside. The instruments are designed for
easy manufacture while sacrificing desirable musical qualities.
This is something you can't fix AT ALL.

At least you can right a badly aligned or gapped reed on a
traditional Marine Band, and this is part of my point - that a
good design badly adjusted is alway preferably to a bad design
flawlessly executed. Count your luck stars and stripes and maple
leaves, folks.

In a similar vein, Jack Ely notes that

   >Hohner won the very prestigious annual engineering award from
   >Design Center Stuttgart [for the CX-12]. An honor usually
   >bestowed on the likes of BMW and Mercedes Benz automobiles,
   >Zeiss lenses and Braun appliances.

Yeah, I got that press release, too. It just so happens that
Mecedes Benz is centered in Stuttgart - their gigantic logo on a
tower is the first thing you see coming out of the underground
train station in downtown Stuttgart. Hohner is located just a
couple of hours down the Autobahn. I'll bet that inquiries would
reveal that Braun and Zeiss are also centered nearby.

Do I sniff a provincial trophy reserved for the local Swabian
manufacturing gentry?