[Harp-L] Kudos - Now Contrtition, etc.

[<bkumpe@xxxxxxx>]

Re: Hohner Harps, etc.

I've been playing seriously about a year.  I'm not that good.  I'm not being
modest.  I have to work at it and it comes slowly.  But, I think I know the
equipment a bit and have made a serious investment in harmonicas.  I have
Suzuki BluesMasters and HarpMasters, Hohner GM's, SP20's and a Blues Bender
in my working collection.  This is the viewpoint of a typical mass market
consumer not an expert like most of you guys.

The Suzukis are uniformly good out of the box.  I own several of them.  I
have never gotten or even seen a bad BM or HM.  Their quality control
appears to be superb.  And I like the way they play.  Easy and smooth.  But,
their U.S. distribution stinks.  They are hard to find retail on the street
and many of their retailers seem to be hung up on full MSRP.  So, to get one
at a realistic price here in mid-America you almost always have to order
online.  I guess that's one of the reasons I own a full set of SP-20's when
I really prefer the BM and HM though the SP20 is a close second.

The Hohner's are good as a rule.  The GM's seem to be very high quality to
me.  I own three and they are very good harps.  The SP20's are good harps.
Reliable.  I own a complete set more or less.  I have seen times when I had
to go through three or four at the store to get a good one and at other
times the first one I picked up was perfect.  I have to wonder sometime if
the stores are not returning their rejects and trying to sell them instead.
I have had several of my SP20's apart and they do improve with minor
internal tinkering.  Though I loved the layout and concept, the Big River
was a disappointment. Maybe the worst over ten dollar harp I ever saw. My
single Blues Bender is a good cheap harp.  I ordered it online and it worked
fine out of the box. It does not have the quality sound of an SP20 or GM but
it is good enough for many purposes.

You can almost always get the Hohner you want locally here in Mid-America
and that is their big advantage.  For working musicians who can't wait for a
mail delivery of a Suzuki or Hering or who want to test the harp before
accepting it, Hohner is kind of the default choice.  Almost every
professional player I know around here plays Hohners.  Granted, many of them
have been customized.  But, that is where Hohner comes into its own.  Just
about every Harmonica community in America has a guy or two who knows how to
"hot rod" a stock Hohner and give you back a truly great instrument.  

Like any other large corporation, Hohner has made its mistakes and has its
problems.  But, I don't think they have to worry about here in the US given
their overwhelming presence in the market.


Bill Kumpe
Tulsa, Oklahoma