RE: [Harp-L] Nails in Combs

[J Compton <jofjltn4@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

(First, I don't like conspiracy theorists.  I will actually send conspiracy theorists "evidence" to support their wild claims just to make fun of them.  Oh, c'mon, it makes me feel good (and it's better than kicking puppies).  Anyhow, I'm surprised no one else has connected these dots yet...or maybe my conclusion is just wrong.  If so, based on past experience, I'm sure no less than six people will tell me immediately.  I'll know I'm right if this thread is hijacked and turned into a discussion that includes Civil War historians and things like that.  =|  )
 
So harp manufacturers make more money by selling more harps...and harps apparently need to be opened up fairly soon after buying them and fairly often thereafter, but doing so causes problems that can very easily make the harp unplayable requiring the purchase of a new harp.  Hmm.  I think we may have unraveled this mystery.
 
Similarly, customizers generally dislike it when people go in after them and tweak (okay, ruin) their work...and keeping the original nail configuration helps prevent that.  And changing to screws is more work for arguably relatively little benefit assuming the consumer doesn't routinely disassemble and reassemble after customization.  Or maybe (similar to the first point) the nails lead to more frequent customized purchases.  Throw in a story about the benefits of nails over screws and you're covered.
 
Maybe it really is always about the money.
 
Anyhow, someone needed to throw this potentially unpopular point out there, if for no other reason than for it to be thoroughly refuted and the poster be flamed to a crisp.  I put the names of every current harp-l subscriber into a hat and had a willing volunteer draw one and it was my own, so I picked up this banner (or is a standard more appropriate in this context?) and charged boldly into the fray.  Fire away.
 
Jonathan "doesn't really kick puppies to make him feel better...any more" Compton
 
<<<You know that's a total lie...try that again...>>>
 
Jonathan "has never really kicked puppies to make him feel better...however, cats are another story" Compton
 
<<<C'mon, seriously, you're going to get hate mail telling you there's nothing funny about that as it is, why make it worse?  One last shot at this...>>>
 
Jonathan "loves puppies and kittens...and rainbows (well, when they were just...)<<<just give it up and hit the send button>>>" Compton
 
 



> From: moorcot@xxxxxxx> To: harp-l@xxxxxxxxxx> Subject: Re: [Harp-L] Nails in Combs> Date: Mon, 26 Feb 2007 22:58:20 +0000> snip
> > They are an abomination for the amateur, too, who merely wants to get inside > the harp to tune or change a reed or fix a gap or two or clean the innards. > I pay sixty quid for a double-sided Echo harp that will inevitably need > opening up fairly soon after acquisition and at frequent intervals after > that for this kind of maintenance and cleaning. The cover ends distort upon > removal and the nail-holes are then too big to hold the covers back on > securely. The advice from Hohner is to snap off a piece of toothpick in the > hole. Ha ha! Getting the plates off without distorting them is a > nightmare, and same problem with tightness of the nails when you put them > back on. This kind of design on a cheapie throwaway may be justified, but > on a serious harmonica it's just a joke. Let's face it, the harps make it > as difficult as possible to take apart and put back together again. It's > not good enough and it's about time Hohner came into the modern era!> > Steve