Re: [Harp-L] MANJI, HARRISON, CROSSOVER,ETC...

[Joe and Cass Leone <leone@xxxxxxxx>]

On Aug 10, 2009, at 11:48 AM, jeremyhsnell@xxxxxxx wrote:

> So many of us players want to play out of the box harps and toss  
> them when a reed goes. Special 20 - out 25 bucks, still so much  
> less expensive than customs. It would be nice if the Manji actually  
> does perform that much better, lasts longer, and actually IS  
> affordable enough to replace cheaper than to replace a reed. I hate  
> to offend any customizers, but all the perfect tuning is lost on so  
> many of us amplified blues players, most of whom appreciate only  
> the ease of playing a well-gapped harp, and not all the other  
> nuances provided by a very expensive arsenal of highly modified  
> cheap instruments.

I was going to say this yesterday but trashed my message. In fact, I  
trash over 67% of my messages. What's that? I should trash ALL of  
them? Ok, back to the subject. People are really going overboard  
trying to make everything perfect and tuning to exact cents and  
stuff. Then they go and blow it all by blowing it all. Unless you are  
giving a concert where the back-up WON't interfere with YOUR  
wonderful tone and unless you can deliver all YOUR style,  
personality, inventive unique runs, fluidity, angst, terror, hurt,  
laughter, good naturedness, moroseness, laconicicity, WITHOUT the  
back-up music making a fiasco out of it, what's the point.

Now I'm not trying to beat anyone out of a sale here but giving a  
custom harp to most players is like giving Tiger Wood's golf clubs to  
most golfers......won't help. As for the manufacturers, instead of  
constantly making these 'improved' models, they should be  
concentrating on UNIFORMITY. Instead of 76 harps being good in a  
batch of 100, it should be 96+. They need to get off their hinies and  
get REAL people to test these things and anything that doesn't make  
the grade goes in the 'seconds' bin. I have never seen harps sold as  
'seconds'. Why IS that? They need to cut the hell down on the number  
of models and make a FEW models..very very well.

smo-joe

> As I write this I am am becoming painfully aware that my opinion is  
> highly hypocritical to my immediate surrounding of dozens of K$ of  
> mics and amps, however...? some of us baby our gear, yet are tough  
> on harps -
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