[Harp-L] re: Kudos



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




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