[Harp-L] re: Why Brendan Why?

[Jonathan Ross <jross38@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

Daniel Bernard writes (all quotes are his):

"OK you want to field Suzuki questions?  Why the heck are you  
marketing ultra high priced harmonicas with wood combs.  Every other  
manufacturer seems to be able to come up with a wood comb harp that  
sells for about the same price as their plastic combed harps. "


This is like comparing a Ferrari to a Hyundai: Hyundai is able to  
make a two-door sports car for a fraction the price of a Ferrari, why  
isn't Ferrari making a two-seat sports car for the same price as  
Hyundai (or Honda, etc...)?

The two wood-combed models are high-end harmonicas, praised here for  
their responsiveness (amongst other things).  The level of quality  
control is often the main difference in price, and it's obvious with  
the praise these harps have gotten that they are very strictly  
controlled for quality throughout the process.  That is hands-on  
labor, and it costs more than materials.  Moreover, this is not  
simply a rebodied version of an existing harmonica, but rather they  
also designed an all-new set of reed-plates (set number 19 for Suzuki  
diatonics it seems--sorry, the minimalist in me would love to see  
harmonica companies actually use just, say, one or two sets of reed- 
plates for specific functions: ie, one for tin-sandwich types,  
another for LO-style enclosed comb types--but that's a minor bit of  
OCD on my part) and at least one new set of covers (wood covers are  
more labor intensive than metal, to boot).  Really, look at the  
praise from people who know what a high-end harmonica should be on  
this subject and it should be evident that it's not the materials  
which is behind the cost, but the time and labor per unit.


"Hohner, Hering, and Seydel let you pick and choose your comb material."


Only in the absolute broadest sense.  You can't get a Marine Band  
with a plastic comb, or a Golden Melody with a metal comb, or a  
Hering Blues with a wood comb.  Most harmonica manufacturers go for  
the low to middle range of the market.  In the middle range prices  
are all pretty close to one another (and this includes metal combed  
harps like the Meisterklasse or Promaster) when you get to truly high- 
end mass-market instruments (a rare and recent category) things get  
more expensive due to combinations of construction and quality  
control (construction would be Seydel's steel reeds, perhaps the  
Suzuki Overdrive with it's complex covers).  The fact that Suzuki's  
high-end harps are wood combed is probably not a significant factor  
in their price, the same as the plastic comb probably isn't a  
significant factor in the price of the Overdrive or the XB-40.   
Indeed, I would expect the price for the two Suzukis to be about the  
same had their combs been plastic or aluminum as wood.


"Why don't you market some other tunings, like Natural Minor and/or  
Melody Makers instead."


Instead of what?  One of the few truly high-end mass produced  
harmonicas ever made?  However, the answer to the question of  
alternate tunings is simple: they don't sell.  No-one has tried  
harder than Lee Oskar, and IIRC, alternate tunings don't even make up  
1% of their total sales.  It's easy to get a false impression from  
this list, but for the most part people don't want alternate tunings  
(or all-bending harps, or harps which overblow well)--they want a  
better Marine Band, really.  And that's what the recent high-end  
instruments from Suzuki and Seydel give you--plus a lot more, of course.


"The Japanese love Natural Minors"


They do?  I'd love to see sales figures that support that.


"What is the deal?  Seydel sells them at a reasonable premium, as  
well as every other tuning you can imagine."


Which is wonderful, but I doubt it's a significant part of their  
market.  In any event, Seydel needs to find an inroads into the  
harmonica market after essentially not existing during the Cold War.   
Suzuki doesn't have to jump through hoops--they are established.   
Still, hopefully with Brendan Suzuki might be able to become less of  
a distant corporation and be able to deal with clients more  
directly.  Indeed, Seydel seems to have leapfrogged everyone with  
their use of the internet to connect to small markets, and deserve  
all the praise for that.  Perhaps this is a step by one of the other  
major manufacturers in that direction, but if not it's hard to fault  
Suzuki for doing business in the same way as they always have, and  
for following the business model (aiming for general retail sales,  
rather than individual customization) which has always succeeded.


"Hohner, and Hering give you a choice of Equal Temperament or Just  
Intonation."


Again, misleading--they do this in different models, not in the same  
harp.  It's more that they offer different models in different tuning  
systems, not that they actually give the player a choice, as if you  
could walk into the store and choose between a JI Marine Band and a  
12TET one.  (Actually, I'm not sure any Herings are 12TET--I know  
some claim to be, but last I saw none were, mind you that was years  
ago--but at the time a model claimed to be 12TET was in fact in a  
just intonation).


"I just don't
 understand the marketing logic of selling high priced wood combs as  
the first expansion of the Suzuki product line."


They wanted to create a new market, actually: high-end, high-quality  
mass produced harmonicas.  That market didn't exist prior to the two  
Suzuki models (with the possible exception of the Suzuki Overdrive,  
and maybe Hohners MB Deluxe, though that hasn't gotten the same  
glowing reviews as the Suzukis).  The wood combs are a nice selling  
point, but not significant to the quality level or performance of the  
instrument.

As for the supposed high price, well, think of it this way: the new  
Suzukis (and the new Seydel, to be fair) are the diatonic harmonica  
equivalent of a Steinway: a truly world-class instrument as good as  
can be purchased (well--nearly, the best would be a custom harmonica  
from people like Richard Sleigh, James Gordon or Pat Missin, but  
that's more like a Fazioli than a Steinway).  A new 7-foot Steinway  
costs, let's see...OK, the closest I could find (piano companies  
don't like to give out their prices) was $54,000 for a 2002 model 7'  
Steinway.  That's 720 of the high-end Suzukis.  Not bad.  I won't  
even go into what the new organs for Disney Hall in LA or the Verizon  
Hall in Philadelphia cost--you're talking tens of thousands of  
harmonicas then.  So even at these "high" prices, we're still getting  
off cheap.

If you want a comparison to our guitarist friends, a new Martin D-45  
(the high-end dreadnaught, sp) lists for over $9,000.  That's 120  
harmonicas.  If you never bought new reed-plates or got your  
harmonicas fixed, you could still go through ten sets of high-end  
harps before it cost as much as a single equivalent quality guitar.

This is not aimed at anyone in particular, but I often wonder if  
harmonica players don't choose our instrument because we're too cheap  
to shell out for a guitar.



 ()()    JR "Bulldogge" Ross
()  ()   & Snuffy, too:)
`----'