[Harp-L] Quality & price discussion

[Steve Baker <steve@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

I can well understand how the variable quality of stock harmonicas  
annoys purchasers, it annoys me too. I'd like to provide some  
background on Hohner harmonicas, which may help people understand how  
these things happen and may also also be relevant for other brands:

Hohner harmonicas are not manufactured mechanically, they are made by  
hand. This exacting work involves extremely close tolerances which  
have to be judged very rapidly by eye during the manufacturing  
process. There is a clear possibility of human error here and this is  
reflected in a degree of variation in quality. Diatonic harps are  
produced in very large numbers at Hohner and quality control consists  
of blowing them mechanically. Anything else is technically illegal  
due to hygiene laws  -  do you even want to buy a harp some unknown  
person has played previously? With the extremely tight tolerances  
used in the current Hohner production it's not always possible to  
assess whether an instrument is defective or not by simply looking at  
it or blowing it on a mechanical bellows. Really you need to play it  
to find out. If the tolerances were not so tight, tiny variations  
would have a less noticeable effect on quality, but the overall level  
of playability would suffer. Sorting instruments into various  
different categories of quality is impossible in a production  
context, as it would require a highly qualified player to play every  
single one from top to bottom and compare it with a bunch of other  
harps. Sorry, but you can't do this in a factory making tens of  
thousands of instruments every month.

I completely agree with all those who've stressed the importance of  
learning to set up your own harps. This is definitely not comparable  
with tuning a guitar, however, it's comparable with setting up a  
guitar (adjusting the action, bridge position, neck, pick-ups etc.),  
which is a much more exacting task and requires a certain degree of  
knowledge and practise. It's something which manufacturers in both  
cases don't do in the factory, but in my view it's essential if you  
want to have harps (or guitars) that play something like how you want  
them to. I set up and tune all my own harps before playing them for  
the first time and repeat the process regularly. I sympathise with  
anyone who for whatever reason is unable to do this themselves, but I  
honestly don't believe that it's work which a manufacturer can  
realistically carry out in a mass production situation. Even if  
qualified staff could be found to do the job, the additional labour  
costs would add considerably to the price of the instruments and  
selling different set-ups to suit the different playing styles would  
create a retailer's nightmare. Then they'd really hate us. This is a  
major reason for the emergence of harp techs and customizers, bless  
them all.

Regarding price, Hohner USA has always been the single biggest  
customer of the Hohner company in Germany, where the instruments are  
manufactured, buying over half the annual production. This gave them  
a lot of leverage regarding price, so though you probably never knew  
it, you lucky people in the USA were accustomed to paying  
considerably less for your harps then players elsewhere. I recall  
only a year or two ago seeing a US online retailer offering Marine  
Bands for $17.65, which at the time (and exchange rate) was less than  
the German wholesale price. Fortunately for the survival of the  
company this is no longer the case and the change in the value of the  
dollar relative to the euro has also led to higher US prices (though  
by no means just for Hohner harmonicas). Now you pay almost as much  
as we do for your harps.

It's sad that players appear only too ready to believe that  
manufacturers don't care about their interests and are only  
interested in gouging them. I would have thought that the fact that  
harmonica manufacturers routinely employ dedicated players such as  
myself or Brendan Power is a clear indication that across the board  
they place a very high value on the wishes and needs of their  
customers and are prepared to spend considerable sums on improving  
both their products and their communication with players. Many recent  
comments in this forum have testified to the improved quality of  
production instruments in the last few years, which would seem to me  
to indicate we're moving in the right direction even if it takes time,

Steve Baker
www.stevebaker.de
www.bluesculture.com