[Harp-L] why custom harps

[Mick Zaklan <mzaklan@xxxxxxxxx>]

   Can't speak for everybody;  but I've had 3 expensive customized harps
sitting in the drawer for many years.  My wife, bless her heart, contacted
Joe Filisko and had him make two of them as surprise gifts.  Both are in the
key of C, a key I don't enjoy using much these days.  How were they to know
that?  I commissioned a third one, on an idea I had.  A bad idea, I might
add.  All three are unplayable to me.  Absolutely nothing to do with the
workmanship or Joe's abilities.  In the hands of other players I'm sure they
would sound magnificent.  They're beautiful instruments.  But because he was
operating in the dark, I believe Joe set them up for Joe or a Joe-like
player.  Which I am not.  I tend to "cram" or compress alot of air into the
slots.  I play pretty staccato-ish instead of legato.  And, for the most
part, I'm not a tongue blocker.
   Now I would never sell these harps.  Two of them were gifts and the third
was a bad idea.  But if I attempt to play them, the reeds tend to lock up
and I can't trust them out in public.  The moral of the story here is to
make sure your customizer knows exactly how you play.  Personally, I would
never order another customized harp unless I was in the room while the guy
set the harp up.  I'd go through every hole multiple times to make sure they
worked for my particularly peculiar embouchure and attack.  Speaking only
for myself, I couldn't order a custom job through the mail unless I was
prepared to send the instrument back probably several times before I got
what I wanted.  I'm not sure I'd want to subject anybody to that, by the
way.
   Just my two cents.  And again, this has nothing to do Joe Filisko's
work.  Pros all over the world use Joe's harps.  It's hard to find
a harmonica recording these days that doesn't have Joe's name listed in the
"thank you" or "dedicated to" section.  I love Joe like a brother.  It has
to do with my own peculiarities as a player.  I'm just saying that another
unorthodox player laying out a bunch of cash for a custom instrument from a
far away customizer might run into problems.  Be extremely specific about
how you play; wind, embouchure, overblows, octaves, etc.

Mick Zaklan