Re: [Harp-L] Re: Seydel Endorsement


On Jul 5, 2008, at 3:56 AM, Steve Baker wrote:

Though I certainly can't claim to be impartial, having worked for the Hohner company in Germany as a consultant for many years, Mike your statement doesn't seem either fair or correct to me.

While I don't actually have a rooster in this fight, I have had good experiences with Hohner harmonicas. And while I have to allow as how I haven't tried every model or brand out there, I have tried 'some'. Starting with the classsic Marine Band, I switched to spl-20 Marine Bands. They have the right combination of whippiness in the reeds, are easy enough to bend without having to have the lungs of a wooly mammoth, and generally hold up pretty well.
Of course, I also have to admit that I don't do riffs and runs exclusively. I do melodies. If I can't do the head, the bridge, the breakdown, I don't need that harp. I don't over stress harps. I don't think they were meant for that. I don't play softly either. Obviously, there are those who make a living beating the hell out of them and searching for sounds that were heretofore unobtainable. I practice tunes that I would never do in public that are ALL bent notes, and I'm having no problem.

As for quality, there WAS a time when the spl-20 was a little 'breathy'. This was easily rectified with a little gapping. But I DO understand that the general public (not adept, NOR inclined to do their own work), might find that annoying. Apparently there was someone working at the factory during THAT 'retirement period' who either had strong lungs and set the air table to THEIR breath, OR, the rivet setter was getting wobbly and not setting the reeds tight enough.

Hohner has invested a lot of money in retooling in recent years and my direct comparisons with instruments made by other manufacturers lead me to believe that the Hohner Classic reed plates used in the Marine Band, Marine Band Deluxe and Special 20 which are currently being produced are of the highest quality Hohner has made since the 1950s.

Yup, I agree. There are just so many finite cycles built into tooling. Every so often you have to change the punches and female receiver plate so that the slots are clean and true. During a longevety of 10,000 cycles, (a figure used just for comparison), it is absolutely positive that the last parts coming off of those dies will have rounded reed slots. The (veritable) kiss of death for reed plates. Then you either need to surface slurry hone the reed plate's surfaces or send out a harp that is suspect.

I certainly prefer them to anything else on the market. Reed life is up considerably too. When did you last try a new one?

Many years ago, and I mean many, we did a program on Mr. Roger's Neighborhood and it was about making harmonicas. The machines used by the American manufacturer (no name mentioned) were absolutely A N C I E N T. Maybe turn of the century. Now one can expect to use machines that old and still be serious. I know, just because a machine is old, doesn't mean it's not still good. Well, old sewing machines will still sew but they get to a point where you can't do fine work with them any longer. And they go through a lot of cycles.

In conclusion, I play the spl-20 and if you put a gun to my head, you might as well shoot me. If they're good enough for McCoy & Popper, I'm impressed.

smokey-joe

For a listing of recent improvement see <http://www.hohner.eu/ index.php?1335>

Steve Baker
steve@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
www.stevebaker.de
www.bluesculture.com
www.youtube.com/stevebakerbluesharp

_______________________________________________
Harp-L is sponsored by SPAH, http://www.spah.org
Harp-L@xxxxxxxxxx
http://harp-l.org/mailman/listinfo/harp-l

!DSPAM:5614,486f29d430501885720285!




This archive was generated by a fusion of Pipermail 0.09 (Mailman edition) and MHonArc 2.6.8.