Re: [Harp-L] Re: Does anyone know what's being done about Marine Bands??? Warning serious harp heresy here.

[Frank Evers <frank@xxxxxxxxx>]

Am Montag, 31. August 2009 schrieb Bill Kumpe:
>  And, there
> seems to be a growing idea that quality control on MB's is getting
> worse rather than better and you really need to buy a "Deluxe"
> model to get a good harp. 

No. Quality control is better and better recently as far as 
considering plate quality. There's always a lot talking about prewar 
Marine Bands...  Forget about it, the current production Marine Band 
plates (and they' basically the same in MB classic, Deluxe or 
Crossover, with the latter regapped closer) are brilliant for a stock 
harp and reeds are long lasting. You don't need prewars, the current 
ones are better!
That said it's amazing how people at Hohner seem to ignore those 
little things like razor sharp edges. Well, that can be fixed easily, 
however it' annoying when you buy a product that is named "Deluxe".

I can't say about america, but here in europe even the MB Crossover 
ist still cheaper than e.g. Suzuki's Fire Breath or Seydel's 1847, 
while it easily competes with those in terms of playability, response 
and durability. US prices for Hohner products have increased 
significantly.  
Writing that i ask you to keep in mind, that EUR/USD is still (again) 
somewhere at 1.40, which does not reflect the purchasing power of 
those currencies. You can buy a lot more for 1.40USD in the US than 
for 1EUR in europe. Then consider that Hohner USA has to pay for harps 
in EUR when buying them from Hohner germany. So it´s not all Hohners 
fault, you need to praise the FED and Lehman for rising import prices 
in the first place!

> Bottom line, why are people still buying
> them?  History, tradition, nostalgia, availability?

Because they're (IMHO) the best stock harps available, even when they 
have some minor flaws.

The REAL question ist: When MBs are that great, why keep buyers 
whining about them?
Well, Hohner could make them even better with low effort of time and 
money (and ALL competitors show, that it can be done), but Hohner just 
doesn't. Because of ignorance probably.

-- 
Gruß,Frank