Re: [Harp-L] Hohner Reeds: Damned if you Do, Damned if you Don't

["steve warner" <10reedsbent@xxxxxxxxx>]

My newest batch of Sp 20's are the warmest sounding "out of the box" harps
I've ever heard.   I don't need customs, but it would be nice to get some
Gordon SP 20's, though.  The tonal quality throughout the bends are very
consistant without any ''break'' in warmth.  Very consitant!  The only other
stock harp with this type of comb that had this warmth throughout its
dynamic range  were several Suzuki BluesMasters I bought about 5 years
ago.

Jim's Music gives the SP 20's and Blues Harps  to me  5 bucks cheaper out
the door than any online store, not to mention shipping, so it's a no
brainer for me to blow the piss out of them and then buy some more.  I love
em'.





On 7/7/08, Brendan Power <bren@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
>
> Poor old Hohner are getting a hard time, and to me a lot of it seems
> unfair. Though I work for Suzuki, I feel a protective urge to leap to
> their defence!
>
> My friend Damien Masterson wrote:
>
> Before 2005, you could take an imperfect stock instrument and have
> it tweaked and tuned to just your liking. Now, they've narrowed the
> slots, making it next to impossible to emboss. They made some other
> changes, and the instruments don't play like Hohners. ...If it
> was Rick Epping, I wish they would bring him out of retirement to undo
> the damage.
>
> Hmmm... That seems kind of strange! What you are saying Damien, is that
> you'd rather Hohner made leaky 'imperfect' harps, just so a select few
> can get them embossed and tweaked to their liking. That seems rather
> elitist. What about the vast majority of players, who just want to buy a
> stock harp that works well out of the box? For them, life with a Hohner
> harp has improved.
>
> Before the new reeds and reedplates came in there were never-ending
> complaints about how leaky and unresponsive they'd become. As a
> customiser myself, I can verify how poor they were. But due largely to a
> lot of hard work from master technician Rick Epping, Hohner quality has
> undoubtedly improved in all areas, not just in reed response but also
> (as you point out) in the slide mechanisms of their chromatics.
>
> An out of the box Hohner 64, 270, Special 20/Golden Melody/Marine Band
> Classic is now a much more airtight and responsive harp than it was 5
> years ago. Whether the tone is better or worse is a subjective issue.
> Some will like the brighter, crisper sound that the much-improved
> reed/slot tolerances impart, others will prefer the tone of earlier
> models.
>
> I've heard similar complaints from other customisers, who say they can't
> emboss the slots of the new Hohner harps because the reeds are tighter
> in the slots. To me, that seems like a GOOD thing: a manufacturer
> responding to customer complaints to make improvements so, for the
> majority, the harps don't NEED to be customised to make them play
> decently.
>
> So yes, I'd say the best thing for Damien and others who feel the same
> way is to just buy up heaps of old pre-2005 harps and spend lots of
> money customising them to their personal taste, and leave Hohner to make
> good harps for the majority of players.
>
> (Pssst... I have lots of 'old' Hohner chromatics (pre-2005) I can let
> you have for a song. Or should I wait for 20 years till those old piles
> of junk become 'Collectors Items'?)
>
> It's tough being a harmonica company!
>
> Brendan
> WEB: http://www.brendan-power.com <http://www.brendan-power.com/>
>
>
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-- 
steve
www.thunderharpmics.com
fattest tone on earth!