[Harp-L] Re: What we would like Hohner,Seydel,etc. to do

[HTownFess <Spschndr@xxxxxxx>]

This occurred to me years ago when I realized that most of the Fender
Custom Shop guitars owned by people I know had come off the rack at
the music store.  Yes: a whole lot or maybe even most of what Fender
does there is assemble standard models to a higher standard and put
different cosmetics on them--they're not made to order.  If you walk
into a store and pick up a Custom Shop Strat, you know it will be a
good Strat.  The action and intonation and sound will all be there.

Which suggested to me that if factories were to offer diatonics that
were precisely gapped and tuned *by hand by skilled human beings*,
they could call them Custom Shop truthfully enough, and get them into
music stores, where customers could confidently walk in and buy a
harmonica that they *knew* played right, for a premium that needn't be
that large.  Just have an area at the factory and let the workers
start with raw (untuned) reedplates, and don't push them too hard with
piecework rates.  Anyone who's worked on harmonicas enough knows that
even the time necessary to disassemble a diatonic to work on it is a
financial waste, not to mention dealing with reeds already gashed up
by factory tuners, etc.  Eliminate that and just do the harp right in
the first place.

You can of course object that one size does not fit all, but the fact
is that there's a "one size fits very many" formula for setup that
would make most players happy and get a lot more newbies started
right.  It's the general formula used by skilled human beings setting
up harmonicas by hand at the big factories between the world wars.
Give most players precise tuning, good response, accurate bends and a
6 OB and their needs are met.  It was intriguing to look inside a
Suzuki Pure Harp when they first came out and observe that Suzuki has
apparently conquered the challenge of automating a (rather tight
overall) version of that classic setup.  Their new Fabulous probably
takes that a step further.

Hohner might do very well to counter that with Custom Shop versions of
their classic diatonics, over the counter in standard tunings and
special order for customs like 7-limit JI GMs or whatever.  I don't
really like their latest reeds/brass, but gap and tune them well and
they're quite good for most people's playing.

Going beyond that to OB setups, etc., is opening a substantial can of
worms and factories maybe shouldn't go there, beyond referrals to
independent customizers--more trouble than it'd be worth.  I don't
think "Ma & Pa customizers" would be affected--they don't make enough
money doing the setup I mention above to bother with it much, they're
usually doing more.  But being able to walk in a music store and buy a
Hohner or Oskar diatonic *that really works the way it is supposed
to*--people would pay more for that and word would spread, and of
course some of those buyers would want to upgrade to hopped-up
"independent customs" as they progressed.

Of course, this would include a repair operation for Custom Shop
harps: send it in and they turn it around and the harp keeps going.

What % over the retail/discount price would people pay for a SP20 set
up like that, maybe with covers rolled open?  Or a 7-limit JI GM or
Blues Harp?

Stephen Schneider

On Oct 12, 9:21 pm, jarett yuknalis <jaret...@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> I think its time for the major harp manufacturers to start  up their own custom shops,Fender finally did and I think it's only a matter of time.I'm thinking of prices around double retail would be fair.Get more harpsters playing ,sell more harps,everybodys happy.No more "Ma n Pa" customizers,but nothing lasts forever.
>
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