[Harp-L] Hohner whiners, maybe a reality check is in order?

["Joe Spiers" <joemopar@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

While just now checking prices at Coast2coast, I don't see any diatonics 
comparable in quality to Hohner handmades, at the prices they can easily be 
acquired for. Even Seydel's el-cheapo wood comb harp is over 10% higher than 
a Marine Band. Personally I don't feel like the Solist is even remotely 
close to being a better harmonica.

The only thing cheaper-than but I guess maybe-for-some-guys-comparable-to a 
handmade Hohner that I saw was a couple Suzuki models. You'll save less than 
a whopping two bucks and you'll have to retune it if you want smooth chords. 
And besides that they don't play the same. BTW the Suzuki Harpmaster was 
around ten bucks cheaper than it is now, about the same time that the Hohner 
handmades were about ten bucks cheaper than they are now. I don't recall 
anyone raising a fuss when that happened.

Lee Oskar, solid harps but right now they're more than the current price for 
a Special 20. Again, possible retuning issues for trad blues players if you 
decide to switch to that brand, after the 8% price increase.

As far as blister packs, yeah that's kinda weird. But on the other hand I 
bought my first harp in some cute little packaging while waiting for a table 
at the Cracker Barrel. Had it not been for that moment, I might still be a 
drummer. Of course if it had costed 40 bucks I would've gone for the 
mimicking parrot instead.