[Harp-L] RE: poor manufacturing was Suzuki's Fabulus....Rant...

[Jeff Roulier <jroulier@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

At 08:08 PM 5/20/2009, you wrote:

>  > > > But at the same time I do agree if I paid good money for a harp
> > > then it should come with out problems...
> > > > Then again, when you buy a guitar they will test it for you and
> > > maybe tune it to make sure its good,,,, then the rest is up to you
> > > to maintain.....
> > > > then again its me.
> > > >
> > > > abner (Blueyes, then again who knew)
> > >
> > >
> > >There just can't be a stock harp that is going to suit just
> > >everyone. It isn't possible.
> >
> >
> > Why not? I'm not saying everyone will like lets say sp 20's, MB's MB
> > Deluxes, etc, but once we find a harp we do like, why can't it be
> > manufactured the same way every time? Why do we settle for such poor
> > manufacturing from all the companies. We wouldn't if we were buying
> > anything else.
>
>
>
> It isn't poor manufacturing, it's just that ~we~ 
> are all different.   The harp companies are on a 
> hiding to nothing here.  They are expected to 
> churn out cheap harps by the thousand so that we 
> can all afford to buy harps.  Clearly they have 
> to have some compromises in matters of gapping 
> and fine-tuning as it is impossible to please everybody.

You're missing my point. There are hundreds of 
harps we can choose from. Out of these we 
eventually find one we like. My point is lets say 
I like SP 20's. I like the feel, tone and 
response. Why cannot Hohner make the same SP 20 
every time? Sometimes their leaky, out of tune, 
or other reed issues. You cannot deny that the 
same harp comes to you different than the one 
before. Why? And why do we not demand better from 
all the manufacturers?  Hohner made a better harp 
50 years ago than they do now.  And, if they're 
not going to be playable out of the box, why 
don't they say some tweaking may be necessary instead of the tripe they spew?

>  On the whole I think they do a good job.


You do?  Well, I've got some stuff I'd like to 
sell.  Would you say the same if we were talking 
about cars?  If not, why not? So what you have to 
give your new car a tune up, right?  The quality 
and consistency should go up as the price does 
(and I don't think $30.00 is all that cheap for a 
tiny instrument such as the harp), but we really 
don't see that enough in this business.









> The guy accompanying me was playing a guitar 
> costing £1200, a mando costing over £600 and a fiddle/bow costing Gawd knows.



This is just comparing apples to oranges, and is irrelevant to the discussion.

> It's easy to complain, and I'm sorry if 
> disabilities prevent some people from working on 
> their own harps, but I think that out-of-the-box 
> harps, ultra-cheapos aside, are the best value on the planet.

Then I would call you and me and others who just accept the status quo suckers

Jeff
http://www.myspace.com/jeffroulier
http://www.youtube.com/Jeff1915

...anyone who fights for the future lives in it today - Ayn Rand