Re: [Harp-L] Chromatic Hohner harp repairs

[Winslow Yerxa <winslowyerxa@xxxxxxxxx>]

Anyone who is any good at repairing harmonicas and is actually doing it as a business is going to charge the kind of money that might make buying a new insturment attractive.

Given that likelihood, you have to ask yourself this question:

What is to be gained by keeping an existing instrument in service?

Possible answers:

- It's worth saving the 25% over the cost of a new instrument.

- I like the model of instrument I have better than what I could buy with the cost of the repair.

- I like too many things about the individual instrument I'm playing to want to give it up.

- A good harmonica tech can make my present instrument play BETTER than a new instrument.

These are all valid reasons to repair (and possibly upgrade) what you have.

harmonica servicing falls into two categories:

-- Minimal restoration

-- Value added

One thing about Hohner service (and probably true of other manufacturers as well). Their only service aim is to return an instrument to a functionally playable condition. Do the minimum to get it working acceptably. That's minimal restoration. Nothing wrong with it, but more is possible.

Independent techs - at least the good ones -  know how to make an instrument better than new. A manufacturer may have a great design, but to sell it at an attractive price point they may not be able to do all the finishing work that would make the instrument really sing. A good tech can do that, whether the instrument is new or not. And that's more than restoration to playable condition. That's value added.

Winslow

Winslow Yerxa

Author, Harmonica For Dummies ISBN 978-0-470-33729-5

--- On Mon, 9/28/09, bruce.dunai@xxxxxxxxx <bruce.dunai@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:

From: bruce.dunai@xxxxxxxxx <bruce.dunai@xxxxxxxxx>
Subject: [Harp-L] Chromatic Hohner harp repairs
To: harp-l@xxxxxxxxxx
Date: Monday, September 28, 2009, 11:46 AM


Since Hohner has gone to their new (and presumably money-making) harmonica service model, where the cost of harp repair/refurbishment approximates 75% of a new harp purchase, what other options are there for getting chromatic harmonicas serviced? What are people using? Have there been any chromatic service repair people enter this niche?  It's actually cheaper to buy a new Hering equivalent than to get a Hohner repaired now. The weak dollar combined with realistic servicing costs have now driven us to this point it seems. 

Thx/advise....
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