[Harp-L] Let's put all speculation aside

[Jonathan Ross <jross38@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

Daniel Bernard writes:

"When I wrote to Brendan Powers
concerning Suzuki's product line I expected that Brendan would  
actually be able
to eventually answer the questions posed to him.  Merely to state the
obvious, I never asked such questions before, and Brendan seemed to  
be inviting
such interaction."


Indeed he was, and as it's an open list, anyone who thinks they might  
have an answer or opinion on a subject can also join in.  I felt that  
there were several factors you were overlooking and pointed those  
out.  Brendan pointed other factors out (his are probably more  
accurate, of course, but I doubt that they invalidate my "speculation").


"I could pick apart JR "Bulldogge" Ross'
correspondence sentence by sentence.  But I don't think the  
argumentative
answer satisfies anyone."


 "I can answer that question, but don't have the time right now,  
sorry, you'll just have to trust me."

:)

I wasn't being argumentative, just trying to point out some things  
you seem to have missed.


"No I don't have any sales figures at my
disposal!  Only a few people on this list have such information and are
unlikely to publish it. "


You made a massively general statement of fact (" The Japanese love  
Natural Minors"), I asked where you got that from.  No need for sales  
figures even, just some sort of reason for the statement.  Of course,  
sales and availability of natural minor harmonicas in Japan would be  
the most relevant to this discussion.


" I recall hearing on Howard Levy’s DVD that
the natural minor harmonica contains the Japanese scale within it."


Which tells me why you made the assumption.  However, that's all it  
is, an assumption.  It would take a look at what harmonicas are  
actually used to say whether natural minor harmonicas are common in  
Japan.  I'm pretty sure they aren't (IIRC, it's standard Asian-style  
tremolos that are most common, though it may be significant that many  
companies also offer minor-tuned tremolos in Asia).




"Suzuki markets the Humming
Tremolo in C, C#, A, G, D, Am, Gm, and Dm in the USA.
[4]  All the minor and major keys are
available in Europe.  [5]  I know that means “Natural Minor!” [7]  It  
is incontrovertible that harmonicas are
being sold in other parts of the world that are not available here."


Yes, many models are sold overseas that are not available in the US.   
And yes, Suzuki does sell the Humming Tremolo in more keys in other  
markets.  That last word is the key: market.  The market for tremolos  
in the US is rather small, whereas it's huge in Asia, and perhaps  
larger in Europe.  Companies tend not to make an effort to import a  
model which won't sell.  Suzuki probably doesn't believe that more  
keys will sell in the US.  So if you want them you have to go  
overseas for them.  With the internet that's rather easy now.  Of  
course, none of this has to do with Richter diatonic harmonicas,  
which  I thought was the subject of this discussion; also I note that  
Suzuki doesn't sell diatonic harmonicas in anything other than  
standard tuning from any of the links you gave.


"There appears to be an interest on
this list about how a harmonica manufacturer determines it's product
line."


There is such an interest.  Unfortunately there isn't a similar  
interest in understanding the basics of how markets operate and the  
most simple principles of economics which tend to be the determining  
factors behind these decisions, especially import and export decisions.

I've seen people complain about Lee Oskar not allowing other Tombo  
products to be sold in the US dozens of times.  What they ignore  
(either in ignorance or willfully) is that LO tried to carry the full  
Tombo line, but these didn't sell, so they now just carry the Lee  
Oskar models.  However, almost every time people tend to see sinister  
motives for Lee Oskar blocking the other Tombos from the market, when  
in truth LO would love to sell all the Tombo line, just it's not  
worth importing stock for sale through traditional retail outlets  
(who wouldn't want to carry these in the first place).  Perhaps the  
internet business model might change that, but it's still too early  
to say.  You seem to similarly be making assumptions about Suzuki  
based on illogical factors in your post, so I felt a need to point  
those out.


"We all have our sacred cows."


I have no sacred cows.  I was merely trying to point out the flaws in  
comparing apples to oranges.


"I like alternate tunings on a diatonic.  Someone else
likes a particular kind of tuning on a chromatic."


I like both these things.  Neither sells and were I in business I  
wouldn't bother trying to manufacture something which doesn't sell-- 
were I a customizer I would probably be willing to make a harmonica  
in any tuning the customer wanted, for the proper fee.  But the  
difference in what is easy for an individual to do and an industrial  
manufacturing concern is rather significant.  Seydel seems to be  
trying to merge the two, and I am glad for that.  However, Hering  
also tried that for a while and it didn't work out as well for them.   
It's a risky proposal, and it spends a lot of energy catering to a  
very small market.  But then, so do the Suzuki Overdrive and the  
Hohner XB-40, and I'm also quite glad they were made.

The main thing I wanted to point out with regards to your post was  
not in answer to these questions, but rather the flaw in comparing  
two things which are very different except in one superficial  
category.  Thus the examples I gave of things which are similarly  
similar in a broad way, but not very similar when looking at the  
entire range of features (a Ferrari and a Hyundai, for example--and  
no offense to Hyundai's, they've won the JD Power rating the last two  
years, IIRC, so they are quite nice in many ways, but comparing them  
to a Ferrari is similar to the comparison you were making between  
brands and models).


"[Brendan Power] is taking a
hiatus this year, but he made a good living on alternative tunings."


You have no way of knowing what the majority of Brendan's harmonica  
work was, and what percentage alternate tunings represented.  It  
included alternate tunings, but a simple look at his website shows  
how diverse it was.  Moreover, even if every harmonica Brendan put  
out was an alternate tuning, that would still represent  
0.000000000000084% of the overall harmonica market in the US alone  
(the number is made up, however take a minute to think of the overall  
number of harmonicas sold in the US per year, then the number of  
harmonicas Brendan could work on in a year and I think the point  
becomes clear).  That's not a market most manufacturers would want to  
bother with.  That's not to say alternate tunings are bad as you will  
find that I have often recommended and championed them, but just a  
recognition of reality in an attempt to answer a question posed.  If  
you don't like the answers, well, then I really can't help you there.




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