Re: [Harp-L] Custom harmonicas: filisko method...(longish)



At 11:18 12/09/2004, Chris Michalek wrote:

Ben makes a good point.  Unless you're a pro then you don't need to
use Filisko harp.

Almost anything I say on this subject will sound like promoting expensive harmonicas... i.e. the Renaissance chromatic. This is not the case here and the story is from well before the instrument was conceived and when I didn't know that diatonics were anything but a folk instrument. It's a double story and the sting in the tail (tale? :)) in that it gives advice both ways.


1st story
I used to be a very mediocre classic spanish guitar player... (and to allay any remarks, I still am) I had a pretty good student guitar and liked it. I began to find things which irritated me in the sound.... so I upgraded to an 'advanced student/early professional's guitar. Wow, so much easier to play... still one or two things that started to emerge after a while. I had, by that time invented a little device for quickly finding out if the frets were exactly in the right position on any fretted instrument... because of this i met many of Europes best guitar makers and got to try some fabulous instruments. While they were laughing at my lack of playing ability they were buying my device! Great stuff. During this round I managed to get hold of a guitar which had been made for Julian Bream. It was new as he had chosen another one by the same maker (Romanillos). This guitar inspired me, it had sounds on it I hadn't been able to achieve before, I found my reach was improved because of the subtle shaping of the neck, the strong harmonics from the body had been smoothed out so that no notes were obtrusive, the G string sang etc etc. It made me want to work with it, practice, play, explore new music... my technique improved from obnoxious to merely unlistenable. I loved that guitar. However, I started to teach in school and it's sound was not appropriate for working with large groups so I had to sell and buy a very nice Yamaha Grand Concert which was surprisingly good.
I MISSED the other guitar and I have never had the same buzz or incentive since. Neither the money nor the opportunity have come along since to try for another like it... and, in any case, the harmonica is my main thing.


Story 2. A friend of mine, a pretty top line Pro, had been after a Fleta guitar for years, it was the type Segovia played. He had played a lot of Fletas and had played a couple to me and they were truly gorgeous. Eventually the Fleta brothers in Spain interviewed him and agreed to allow him to buy one of their second hand guitars (long and amusing story). he brought the thing home and round to my workshop and asked me to take 1/8" off the neck thickness. I told him it would take me 2 weeks. (actually I could do the complete job in an afternoon and varnish it in a couple of days... I wanted to PLAY this thing!!! ) The long and the short of it ?? I was bitterly disappointed with it, I couldn't get anything reasonable out of it. I hadn't the strength nor the subtlety to make it work. When he came back to collect he did a test concert for me... over an hour of beautiful music... He COULD get out of it what it had to offer.

The work of a particular customiser/builder may or may not be for you. However, if you find the right one, doesn't matter what stage YOU are at, it will inspire you and make the job of becoming proficient that much easier because you are not trying to overcome the instruuments deficiencies all the time. Yes, it happens on ALL instruments not only harmonicas.

About the highest compliment we have ever had came from a customer who said "The slide responds just like you want it to, you forget it´s there, that´s how good it is.."

Any good customiser will elicit that sort of response from a player on all sorts of fronts.

BTW, my partner just had to pay $3000+ to have some plastic piping put in a house. It wasn't two days work, material costs would be below $200. And you think that $200 for an extreme master tweaking your instrument is expensive? Get real! The Filisco group have low prices for their skills, as do most customisers.

Whatever your level of play... if you are serious about your music... search out a customiser and start working together. You will be amazed. If you aren't, move to another customiser.

You won't regret it.

Douglas t







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