Re: [Harp-L] Harmonicas

[Pat Powers <patpowers@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

John, I couldn't agree with you more!
 
Hohner has always been ignorant and arrogant, and they still are.  Except now their arrogance may really cost them.  There are more alternatives available out there, more now than ever, and I'm sure Hohner is losing market share.
 
They do still make some decent harmonicas, though.   I hear their chromatics are still pretty good, and I like the Special-20 diatonics for blues, but they're too expensive to be just throwing away when they blow out, and the MS (modular system) series that they offer replacement parts for sucks.  And, they keep trying to ram that crappy design down our throats, claiming it was "released to critical acclaim."   I find that over-repeated canned sales-pitch extremely amusing, as I haven't met a blues player in the U.S. yet that likes that crappy design with the reed plates sticking way out in the front like that.  Maybe it's all those kids in China???
 
As far as the MS-series design goes -- I could see making the reed plates stick out past the comb a little bit (key term is "little bit") when you build a harmonica with a soft wooden comb, as you don't want the comb swelling out past the reed plates from moisture while you're playing it.  But, not out THAT far, and not all their MS-series harmonicas have wooden combs either.  Making the reed plates stick out that far only serves to make single note playing extremely difficult while puckering, and it makes more saliva go inside the instrument when tongue-blocking, too.  And, the flat reed plates sticking out on all sides of the instrument makes the instrument leak like a seive.  Add in the mustache hair grabbing capabilies of the cover-to-plate interface, and that's enough for me to condemn the design.
 
The recessed reed plates in the SP-20 are what make them comfortable to play, so air tight and sweet, and so desirable -- but don't try to tell Hohner that -- they obviously know more about harmonicas than any of us do!  I've been asking them for replacement parts for the SP20's for years now, and always get the same arrogant canned response telling me how I should be using the MS-series instead.  Apparently, they not just arrogant turkeys, but they're also delusional as well, as they think the MS-series is a good design.  So, I guess we could say Hohner is run by "Arrogant Delusional Turkeys!"  Would anybody else care to to add more adjectives or explicatives to the title???
 
BTW:  I'm still waiting for that "big announcement" on the SP20 reed plates by Hohner-USA!   Good thing I"m not holding my breath, huh???  They've been selling them in the UK for years, but the shipping costs and import/export taxes make them ineffective anywhere else.  When I asked Hohner-USA why they weren't selling them here, I was simply told it was a "business decision."  It was at that point in time that I made a business decision of my own, and starting buying Lee Oskar's harmonicas.
 
Lee Oskar listened to what players wanted, and I beleive much of his success was -- and still is -- due to Hohner's ignorance and arrogance.  His 10-hole diatonics have recessed reed plates like the SP20's, but with larger orifices, and he offers replacement reed plates for them, right here in the USA, at about half the cost of a new harp.  It's nice to have a harmonica manufacturer that listens to what their customers want.
 
And, it's nice to see even more manufacturers entering the market.  Hohner can go to hell in a hand-basket as far as I'm concerned.
 
As for those of you that feel like berating me for "attacking" Hohner, remember --> you're the customer, they're the supplier.  They're supposed to kiss your arse, not the other way around, OK???

 

  Best Regards,
 
    Pat Powers
 
patpowers@xxxxxxxxxxx

Sep 5, 2010 11:26:58 AM, MundHarp@xxxxxxx wrote:

I have used MANY harmonicas, during my carear as a harmonica player... Some 
good, some bad...

But when I STARTED harp playing, in England, there were ONLY HOHNERS 
(Availble in England)
.. 
And heavens above!
HOHNER WERE SO ARROGENT back in the 1960s.

I used to buy Hohner harmonicas, by the dozen wholesale... Why? BECAUSE 
THEY BLEW Out after just a very short time... But Hohner said "NO... You 
can't buy our instruments wholesale any more... Go to your local music shop and 
pay FULL PRICE... 

Well... I'd say that was the MOST STUPID thing that any company EVER 
SAID! 

I was buying lots of instruments., direct from Hohner, back in the 1960s.. 

Some IDIOT in London decided... NO... I was simply a teenager of no 
importance... I was told to buy my instruments, at retail price... From local 
music stores... "I WAS BUYING DOZENS AT A TIME"... Hohner's staff in London 
at that time, were simply, "BONKERS"...


I used to buy "Echo Vampers" and "Echo Super Vampers" ... 12 and 10 whole 
"Marine Bands" sold in Europe under a different name... BUY THE DOZEN, from 
Hohner Wholesale... That made these particular harmonicas 
affordable.buying them by the dozen. THE BLEW OUT AFTER JUST A FEW HOURS!.

BUT I was FORBIDDEN TO BUY WHOLESALE? WHY? I was purchasing dozens of 
harmonicas at a time!

( I had money in those days)

Please... forgive that idiot at Hohner in London England, back in the late 
1960s... BUT THAT STUPID PERSON TRULY MESSED ME UP!

Now we have many options.

I still like Hohners

I have got used to their idiosyncrasies.
... 
But, perhaps that is simply because "Hohner" is the harmonica I'm used 
to...
Now Thank GOODNESS.. We have alternatives.

I am just so HAPPY we now have CHOICE...
What is the saying about a company... Hohner...run by "Turkeys" and not 
"Eagles"... 

That seems to sum up Hohner..

Hohner? A company run by TURKEYS... Who still... sometimes... make good 
harmonicas..

John "Whiteboy" Walden
Cebu City
Philippines