Re: [Harp-L] Rare/custom/old harmonicas on ebay

["Customharmonicas" <customharmonicas@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

Hi Jason, Tim, and All,
First I must say how great Jason and Tim sounded at SPAH this summer!
Man that was fun...now to the subject at hand:
I had a client who bought 4 full-out overblow/overdraw instruments and
unfortunately did not understand how to get the most out of them. He parted
with them on ebay and a respected player purchased them. Then the buyer's
local tech wrote in to say that these Harmonicas were the best overblow
harps he had ever seen. The seller later contacted me to tell me how
he felt his playing had improved so much that he now understood what he had
in the first place, and how much he regretted selling the 4 on ebay.
I once bought a Harmonetta on ebay from a seller who claimed that her
brother worked on it- and that he really knew how to improve Harmonicas.
Wary but wanting one of these for a long time I bought the thing. Well, I
learned the lesson-
everyone (and their sister) believes that they know what's going on under
the hood but believing one knows how a Harmonica works is not the same as
actually knowing. The seller sent me a partial refund and I have been hoping
to send the Harmonetta to John Infande, master technician of the Orchestral
Harmonicas, and that model in particular. (Unfortunately, just because the
Filisko Method instruments are more expensive than stock does not translate 
to my having enough bread to pay John to fix it yet, due to the time and 
labor involved in both my work and his.) I would fix it myself but I would 
prefer to have an experienced Harmonetta
technician do the work, as the Harmonetta is quite complicated inside, and
parts are rare.
There are some great things still out there, but it would be rare to find a
Filisko, Sleigh, or one of my Gordon Harmonicas for resale....but nothing is
impossible.
I sure do appreciate my valued clients who understand that doing this work
fulltime necessitates a wait, due to actual production time and the "queue"
being the only way to be fair. Fortunately due to a lot of concetrated work
I am closing the gap somewhat and not exceeding my estimates, and starting
to complete things closer to the middle of my estimated completion rather
than the end here.
I would like to thank all the folks who have ordered Filisko Method
instruments from me. I know that it is not easy to part with the bread and
wait, but it may be better than to risk buying from a stranger on the net,
although there are some very tempting vintage things out there. Buyer be
wise is my recommendation...
I hope to participate here more often but I've got to hit the bench now.
All the Best and Happy Holidays!
James Gordon
Gordon Harmonicas
http://customharmonicas.com


...........................................................................................................................
Tim Moyer wrote:
A few years ago a couple of older Filiskos came up on ebay; one was
a double-plate A, the other something more standard.  A friend of
mine in Austria at the time won the double-plate and had it shipped
to me to forward to him, as the seller would not ship
internationally.  I had the pleasure of examining the harp before
sending it on, and it was absolutely beautiful.  Joe's work on the
double plating was phenominal.  He had polished the plate edges so
that the line where the two plates were joined was nearly
imperceptible.  Of course, it sounded like a dream, despite the fact
that it was nearly a decade old.

A few years back I traded someone some customizations on some old
handmade Meisterklasses for some parts, and the guy immediately
turned around and resold my work on ebay as being from one of
the "top harmonica customizers", whatever the hell that means -- 
like there are more than a dozen or so out there.  I don't think
they even fetched the original street price of around $50.  That's
what my reputation's worth on the open market!

I used to buy a lot of harmonicas on ebay, especially pre-WWII
Marine Bands.  I don't see them around as much anymore (maybe
because I'm not looking), but they can be nice instruments if
they're in good shape.  I once bought one of the old "Trumpet Call"
harmonicas like the one that appears on the Butterfield "Better
Days" LP cover.

I could go on, but I'll spare you all,

-tim


Jason Ricci wrote:
>  Hey Yall... I would love to hear some of your stories regarding
> any experiences some of you might have had buying/bidding on
> Filisko/Sleigh/Gordon/Harrison harmonicas on eBay! Or any customs
> for that matter... I have only heard of one story of a Filisko
> method harp ever being sold there...The guy who got it is my bud
> from Germany it was on of the coveted round whole brass ones in F.
> Recently I met someone who had won a bid there for one of Brendans
> 10 hole chromatics (CX12)... Also I would love to hear other
> stories of collectors finding/selling/inheriting any gems any
> where. Cool Huh? Write away!!!
> Jason