Re: [Harp-L] Meisterklasse harps

[Joe and Cass Leone <leone@xxxxxxxx>]

Ya know Mike. I loved Meisterklasse harps the minute I touched them  
to my lips but at the time I had 4 kids and 3 were in college at the  
same time. It was a problem because I am a selfless father and I  
always put the wife first, kids second, and me last. Ergo, when it  
came to shelling out the bucks for one, I balked.
You would have been more likely to see my car parked somewhere along  
the turnpike as I was down in the woods culling out all the standing  
dead timber. Then I would use that in my Ben Franklin in those long  
Pittsburgh winters. The fresher wood I would sell and use the money  
for school books or meal plans. My wife was a stay at home mom, and I  
liked it that way. So, we had one income. We were lucky. Pgh was over  
700k population when I was a kid and now it's a mere 300k. Second  
most depressed area in the country (after Detroit). Yes, people are  
working (mostly service fields), but $7.17 to $10.75 an hour ain't  
what I call a comfortable living. Today. most families have to have  
BOTH parents working to make $14.5 to 21.5K.

Back to the Meisterklasses. They were a good harp and if I had been  
smart (like P.T. Gazell), I would have gotten a complete set and kept  
replacing them as needed and still have a set of premium harps.  
Fortunately, the spl-20 was affordable and did what my (limited)  
style required. so I stayed with spl-20s. Tried GMs. tried Hering  
1923s, tried em all now that I have the means to do so. Haven't tried  
the Seydels (yet). I keep coming back to spl-20s only because it's  
like going to the Walmart. Almost any music store has spl-20s. And if  
they don't, their store need some fixin.

It's like going out and getting your car serviced. If you have an  
unusual model, you may have to wait for parts. That happened with my  
Maserati. I got frustrated and dumped it. A spl-20 is like a stock  
Ford 150 pick-up. Even Ft. Stockton Texas has parts. There are some  
customizers out there who are unbelievably gifted. Bob is one OF  
them. I think (nowadays) that if one has the turnover time and the  
funds, they should use them. These guys deserve to be used, they need  
to be used, and now that it's 2008, I don't see a problem there. I  
was just from another time era.

smo-joe


On Jul 12, 2008, at 12:05 PM, Michael Rogers wrote:

> Hey Smo-Jo.  actually, all this talk of Meisterclas touches my  
> heart.  I have three Mmid-80's Meisterclas harps.  i was able to  
> get some of the few remaining reedplates from Honhner and sent  
> everything to Bob Meehan for customizing.  I love the feel of thes  
> critters and wish i had more.  Maybe it's just sentiment.  They  
> don't fit in my Vern smith harp rack, but they're still my favorites.