Re: [Harp-L] Harps made in China

[rgwebber@xxxxxxx]

Ken,

I am curious to know your experience with the Fire breath harps.

I am an intermediate blues player.  I have tried many harps, but mostly played the MB.  I then tried a Fire Breath. I love the feel  & sound of it, but it seems to bend very differently from Hohner  MB, special 20 & Lee Oskars.  I find it hard to play.  (It's an F).  I also have a Suzuki Pro Harp 350-V in G.  I find it bends differently from all my other harps, including the Fire Breath.

For now I have "settled" on the MB Deluxe.  I find them more predictable & enjoyable/easier to play.

Any thoughts?  especially comparing the Fire Breath to others.

Thanks,
Ron
-------------- Original message from Ken Deifik <kenneth.d@xxxxxxxxxxxx>: -------------- 


> At 01:31 PM 4/23/2008, Gary the P wrote: 
> >This may sound a bit pessimistic but businesses all over the world are 
> >often run the way you describe and construct sophisticated PR damage 
> >control programs to compensate for the occasional screw up or life(s) 
> >lost. China doesn't have the corner on this behavior. 
> 
> Perhaps, but the guys I was working with had dealt with loads of 
> manufacturers and when they first brought up their problems with the 
> purifier distrib they expected absolutely no results. 
> 
> They explained to me that for some companies making junk is a numbers 
> game. Get a bunch out the door and ignore the complaints. If there's a 
> profit after the returns, you're doing it right, as far as they're concerned. 
> 
> They were mightily surprised at how rapidly the Chinese manufacturer 
> responded, and how effectively. Every issue they raised was dealt with in 
> the next shipment, and this is with an American distrib in the middle. For 
> instance, a rubber gasket was stuck onto a replaceable part in such a way 
> that someone must've been forced to make six per minute. It was very 
> gappy, seriously degrading performance. After the complaint it was obvious 
> that they took much more time installing this gasket, and improved the 
> process, too. No more gaps. 
> 
> I seem to recall that there used to be a kit you could buy to test whether 
> your coffee mugs had lead in the glaze. I wonder if that kind of approach 
> would be possible with harps. 
> 
> As for not digging Hohners, I'm witcha buddy. However, I bought a C# 
> Marine Band due to an emergency last summer, cringing all the way. After 
> an hour of playing that thing had set up very nicely. I was 
> surprised. Still didn't compare to my Suzuki Fire Breaths, but I was 
> impressed. Back when you had two choices for harps, either buy a Hohner or 
> take up guitar, I perfected a method for only buying airtight Hohners that 
> played well: 
> 
> I got a job in a record store that sold MB's and Blues Harps. The trick: I 
> tested every single harp that came in. Kept all the goodies. There 
> weren't that many. 
> 
> I sold all the junk to customers, saving many of them from a life at a 
> harmonica player's pay grade. 
> 
> I have to think that to this very day clever harmonica players who work at 
> music stores are trying to do us the same favor. 
> 
> K 
> 
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