[Harp-L] re: Kudos

[Steve Baker <steve@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Christelle,

I hate to get embroiled in this kind of discussion in public, but I  
can't let your extremely contentious remarks go uncommented. I was  
poking fun in a friendly way and was careful not to make any  
disparaging public claims. I also didn't react at all to your  
puzzling announcement last week that SPAH 2009 would witness the  
Seydel Harp Attack. Who exactly are you intending to attack? I don't  
think a Harmonica Jihad is what we need.

Christelle wrote:

<Steve,

<You know that I love your play but:

<We ALL know that the perfection is not in this world. What's is the
<inconvenience of 1 reed that's breaking in comparison of thousands of
<Marine Band that're simply unplayable right out of the box..... >

There have certainly been times when Marine Bands have been of poor  
quality and you can always get a lemon, as I've stated in the past.  
If you do, send it back. However, this is equally true of other  
manufacturers. Unlike yourself and most other members of this list, I  
regularly check out the current production of all major manufacturers  
and even though I didn't shout it from the rooftops, I've certainly  
had Seydels as well as examples of other brands which I considered to  
be unplayable. The current Hohner Classic quality is generally very  
good and I wouldn't play the harps otherwise.

<As an
<Hohner endorser I understand that you're defending your brand, and I
<know for sure that Hohner is providing the best harps  for their top
<endorsers (Jean Jacques Milteau said), but please consider that it has
<been a good while now that Hohner is producing probably the worse
<quality harmonica right out of the box ever made.....

These claims are all complete nonsense. I wasn't defending anything,  
just making a joke about the supposedly unbreakable steel reeds. If  
anyone at Hohner were tuning up harps for top endorsees, I would be  
the person doing this work. Hohner endorsers get exactly the same  
instruments as normal customers. To publicly claim that Hohner is  
currently producing the worst quality harmonica out of the box ever  
made is ignorant and insulting to the point of libel. You can't have  
tried any recently.

<I've been a HUGE an of the Marine Band made in the 90's and I still
<play a MeisterKlasse (1st version) from time to time.

The Marine Bands from the 1990s were definitely inferior to current  
production, because the new tooling to reduce tolerances and increase  
airtightness was not introduced until the early 2000s. I repeat, you  
can't have tried one. The old Meisterklasse is a much loved  
instrument, but if you fit it with reed plates from the current  
production it's far better than the original. I've done this and the  
difference is huge.

<Without Hohner
<we ALL know that harmonica wouldn't be the worldwide known instrument
<that it is now. But let's face it, buy a  Seydel (my turn) or a Suzuki
<in a regular shop and you'll understand that Hohner is not taking
<their customers seriously.

Hohner takes their customers very seriously. This has been one of the  
central aspects of my work for the company. As stated in previous  
posts, if there are issues with manufacturing defects, the instrument  
is replaced without question. Also, if I understand correctly, your  
own harps are set up either by yourself or Ben, so I don't know if  
it's fair to make that kind of comment about out of the box  
instruments. In my experience, they all need setting up and Seydels  
are no exception.

<I'm adding this : I'm not a blind Seydel endorsee, I'm not racist, but
<having all these students over the world having issues of leaking
<harmonicas, not tuned reeds and, cheap workmanship is saying all. The
<day Hohner will be back to the high quality harmonica, I'll reconsider
<to play them.

<Christelle Berthon

This kind of blanket generalisation is misleading and also rather  
arrogant. What about the numerous satisfied Hohner customers? Have  
they just not seen the light yet? My music is more important to me  
than my job with Hohner and I need the best possible instruments to  
play it. I've been doing this professionally for nearly 35 years.  
While personal tastes differ, I have yet to find a musical reason to  
play any other harp than a Marine Band (presently Deluxe) or Special  
20, and I try every brand on the market regularly. All I do to my  
harps is adjust the offsets and fine tuning to suit my personal  
preferences. If they were anything less than excellent, I wouldn't  
play them. Why don't you try one instead of indulging in the time- 
honoured sport of Hohner bashing?

I'd like to end with a plea for a more reasoned and friendly  
discourse on topics like this. I'm personal friends with many people  
who work for other harmonica manufacturers and most of us find  
outbursts such as this simply embarrassing. We're all in the same  
business and what's good for the harmonica is good for all of us,

Steve