[Harp-L] Lee Oskar / Hohner MS

[Steve Baker <steve@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

John wrote:

<Some of us blame Lee Oskar for Hohner's development of the MS
<system, since the MS models appeared to be Hohner's response to the
<emergence of the Lee Oskar line.

Lee has made similar claims in my presence about the original Hohner  
Meisterklasse 580. Actually they emerged at around the same time  -   
Lee launched his company in 1983, the same year when Hohner sent me  
pre-production prototypes of the MK580 to test. The MK580 was  
subsequently launched in early 1985 (I presented it at the Frankfurt  
Fair). The first time I saw a Lee Oskar was when Charlie Musselwhite  
showed me one in 1986. Screw  together assembly and replaceable reed  
plates were a logical development and both companies came out with  
them independently of one another. The Hohner MS models were  
introduced several years later in 1992 as an attempt to revolutionise  
harmonica production through automation and were in no way connected  
with anything any competitor was doing,

Steve

Steve Baker
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