Re: [Harp-L] Looking for a good overblow harp

[Richard Hunter <turtlehill@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Pierre wrote:
"You can spend $1000 for a set of racing bike weels. Or you can spend $750 
and get almost the same quality because of diminishing returns...
You can try my approach if you like, start not too expensive and work your 
way up, at some point you may see that the difference is not worth the money 
for your type of playing...
I'm buying Turbo AXs now and I am very happy with them, but my next harp 
will be from Tim; just to see. Then perhaps one from the guild. The Turbo 
AXs are tight when you first get them, but after about 10 hours of playing, 
they are really great."

All of the above is true.  In my opinion, it's ridiculous to claim that only the most expensive instruments have value.  An instrument is worth buying if it inspires and enables the player to make great music.  The maker and purchase price are nearly irrelevant in that sense.  Most of the instruments in my case are stock Lee Oskars, and they play and sound very good.  (If you want to hear exactly what they sound like, check out the solo harp pieces on my site at http://hunterharp.com/mp3s.html, all of which were recorded without overdubs or effects.)  I've certainly used and enjoyed other instruments, including a Marine Band customized by Glenn Davis that's a wonderful instrument, and a country-tuned Turbo AX20 in A that plays very nicely.  But to say that my customized instrument is wonderful is nothing like saying that my stock instruments are useless.

It's beyond dispute that the Filisko guild makes wonderful instruments.  Lexus also makes wonderful cars.  I would never claim that the only car worth buying is a Lexus.  Nor would I refuse to drive any other car after a week behind the wheel of a Lexus.  

If it were true that only customized instruments sound good or play well, then the only players anyone would care to listen to would be those who play customized instruments exclusively.  Obviously that's not the case.
  
Pierre also wrote:
"BTW why is louder better, my wife and kids (and neighbours) do not want 
louder."

Louder is better because, all other things being equal, a good player can produce a wider range of tones and articulations on a louder instrument.  Louder also means that the player needs less effort to produce a given sound at a given volume, and less effort for a given effect is generally better.  One of the real advantages of customized instruments is that they do tend to be noticeably louder.

I use the Marine Band customized by Glenn Davis for most of my performances of "Billy The Kid," one of my punchiest solo pieces, because that harp is very loud indeed.  I can play "Billy The Kid" on any country-tuned diatonic, and have done so in performance on several occasions.  (It was originally recorded on a country-tuned Lee Oskar.)  But when I use the Davis harp in performance, the big, hammering chords that climax the bridge section hit the audience with a physical sensation, the way a loud electric guitar does.  Not all my pieces depend on that effect, but it's sure nice to have it when I want it.
 
Thanks, RH