Re: Returning a chromatic?

[jterrasi@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx (Joe Terrasi)]

I've never been fond of that "no return rule" myself.  While I almost never
buy chromatics, I will offer the closest thing to a solution that I can
come up with:

  * Find one store that you like and trust and buy ALL your harps there. *

I agree with Winslow that you should test the thing as throughly as
possible while you are in the store, but the "funky Hohner bellows tester"
only goes so far.  Most of the manufacturing defects I have come across
have been pitch problems, and the tester doesn't help you identify those
(unless you sit there with a tuner in hand.)

A lot of musician friends of mine joke that they wish they played harp
because it's so cheap.  HA!  WE all know that it is a constant ongoing
investment that can wind up be MORE expensive than playing guitar, bass, or
drums.  Fortunately, my music store proprietor also realizes this (okay,
his other customers include Howard Levy and Sugar Blue, so he's not exactly
uninformed about harp players.)  Since he KNOWS how much money I spend and
will continue to spend, he is very gracious about returns.

Also, I have had consistent trouble with harps that I've bought from
big-name music store chains, particularly Guitar Works.  A much higher
percentage of the harps I bought there (before I adopted the above rule)
were defective.  I don't KNOW for sure why, but my friend at the music
store has a theory:  He suggests that Guitar Works may be in the practice
of ordering in such massive bulk that Hohner USA, Tombo, et al. have to
increase production beyond their ability to control quality.  He doesn't
say he knows this for a fact, but I asked him why he thought I'd had such
consistently bad luck with harps bought from Guitar Works.  Guitar Works
was also very uncooperative when I tried to return harps despite the fact I
had bought several.

(Winslow, you've had actual contact with the Hohner folks.  Could this be
the case?)


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