RE: [Harp-L] The Marine Band Crossover is here (bis repetita) !

[Jonathan Compton <jofjltn4@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

My guess as to the reasons for why interest was lower than you expected (in no rational order):

1. US$60.  That's significantly more than the plain old regular Marine Band.  It will need to be a significantly better product to generate much interest.

2. "combs made of laminated bamboo" - four out of five independently surveyed harp players agreed that bamboo has a tendency to make the tone sound hollow and...oh, okay, I'm making this up.  Based on one of the most frequently recurring topics on harp-L, any claims to the comb affecting the sound are bogus.  At the most, the difference between two different kinds of wood combs will probably not be very noticeable if at all.  (Those last two statements will probably agitate both sides of the comb debate crowd.)

3. "Production will start in June" - It's hard to get excited about a product that is at least three months out.

4.  For decades, harp manufacturers (and every other kind of manufacturer) have made claims about upcoming products that were later found to be mostly hype.  I'm not saying these claims are that, but it's tough to overcome consumer skepticism.

That said, the sealed combs are a definite plus to me.  The unsealed combs of the original MB are likely what turned me away from them early in my playing career (even though I have since came back around...in fact, the MB are my current harp of choice).  I don't know how 0.9mm compares to the reed plates of the regular MB, but if thicker, then I think that's a potentially good thing too.  The most important aspect for me will be the consistency of the product out-of-the-box and the ease at which the customizers can work their magic.  If they're good off the shelf, I can buy them with confidence that I can just play them instead of work on them...and if they're easier for the customizers, that eventually means a lower custom price or a higher profit margin for the customizers, either of which are good things.

If Hohner will send me a few early production harps, I'd be glad to write a more thorough, better educated review.

Jonathan Compton



> From: rok68@xxxxxxx
> To: harp-l@xxxxxxxxxx
> Date: Mon, 6 Apr 2009 21:44:48 +0200
> Subject: [Harp-L] The Marine Band Crossover is here (bis repetita) !
> 
>    I am a little surprised by the apparent lack of interest on the list for 
> the new Marine Band Crossover presented last week by Hohner in Francfort... 
> To pique everyone's interest, here is what the company promo material says 
> about this new harp. Quite interesting:
>    "In our search for high quality, renewable raw materials, we conducted 
> blind tests with world-famous top players Howard Levy and Joe Filisko. 
> Independently of one another, both of them gave the highest marks for sound, 
> volume and general playability to combs made of laminated bamboo which (...) 
> are fully sealed and completely water resistant".
>    The Crossover will be available in "modern compromise tuning" (what ever 
> that means) with 0.9 mm brass reed plates.
>    Production will start in June. Price shoud be around 50 euros (about 60 
> USD).
>    Usual disclaimer applies...
>    Sunnyside
> 
> _______________________________________________
> Harp-L is sponsored by SPAH, http://www.spah.org
> Harp-L@xxxxxxxxxx
> http://harp-l.org/mailman/listinfo/harp-l