Re: out of the box

[funharp@xxxxxx]

IronMan Mike Curtis schrieb:

> A $15 Marine Band lasts me usually a night or two.  A $20 Lee Oskar lasts me
> around a month or two.  Charlie Musselwhite said that Oskars last him 10
> times longer, so I'm not the only one.


Hi Mike and all,

I must confess that I am always confused, when I read such statements.

And that's not because I doubt the durability of the LOs. (although my
personal experience does not fit with yours: the only LO that I have
played for a longer time (and regurlarly as my key of D harp) was ruined
in a shorter amount of time than my Hohners, but that is not
represantative, I'm sure).

What is puzzling me: how can someone damage a harmonica in one night, or
in two, even in a month? (just by playing, not by stamping on it).

After nearly 20 years of playing I know that I didn't ruin more harps in
total than I have fingers on my hands.

And if it's true, that a good playing technique is good for the harp:
I'm sure that my technique is still far away from being perfect, but I
do not destroy one harp each week. (If this were the case I had to give
up playing because of the immense sum of Euros I had to pay for new
harps and/or reedplates.)

Am I doing something wrong?  ;-)

Otto