OK, let's see if I got this right:
(a) someone says 99.5% of what the harmonica can do comes from the player.
(b) the other o.5% is the harmonica.
Chris said that TONE was 99.5% the player.
That figure had nothing to do wit playability, longevity, evenness of
response, comfort of playing etc etc.
Tommy Reilly, the great chromatic player, could do stuff on a standard
instrument that nobody else could. Then he had a silver instrument built
for him. When it was adjusted right his playing went to a different level
almost overnight.
Making certain that a player is not wading through molasses can allow the
brain time to think about the music and not have to concentrate on
different compensations for each note.
As a general point....
NOBODY is saying you MUST buy a custom harmonica. However, you will more
than likely find your playing enriched if you do.
If you find that an unaltered harmonica allows your full potential to show
then you are a lucky person... however, this does not alter the fact that
possibly most would benefit from having a harmonica which had been gone
over by an expert.