RE: [Harp-L] B-Radical

[Buck Worley <boogalloo@xxxxxxx>]

David-
 
Good post! And just to emphasize the message that you are conveying, I worked in the auto industry for a few years at one of the Big Three's plants. I worked for one of the Tier I suppliers. If we goofed something up and caused a production shut down, the cost which we could be held liable for was calculated relative to the severity of production loss. Smallest cost was if a machine was down (we supplied machined parts and proprietary OEM parts) the cost of "down time" was calculated at $7,000.00 per minute. On the other end of the spectrum, if a whole cell or line was down and cars were not going out the back door, the cost was calculated at $44,000.00 per minute. 8,000 UAW employees with nothing to do! Fortunately, our feet were never held to that fire. But I saw it happen to other suppliers. Every now and then one of the suppliers would have to fly in a part via Kitty Hawk at a cost of $50,000.00 just for shipping which was cheaper than what the down time would cost.
 
Yes, production time is precious and down time is expensive! 
 
Production, whether a huge plant or a small mom and pop garage operation, is a stressful thing full of pressure always coming at you from 5 different directions. 
 
Quality Assurance is a huge thing. Good for Brad for rejecting the coverplate order! That just demonstrates his commitment to producing a quality product.
 
Buck
 
 
> Date: Wed, 20 Apr 2011 22:14:31 -0700
> From: dave@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> Subject: Re: [Harp-L] B-Radical
> To: harp-l@xxxxxxxxxx
> 
> I wanted to add a little something to Don's post. Don is dead right about not 
> rushing to get a mediocre product out. People not in the know think that means 
> sitting around gawking at the instruments or something, and why don't they just 
> hurry etc., but that's not what it means at all.
> After working there, I can come back and run Elk River better than ever because 
> of the skills i learned from brad and the workload in a hundred different 
> directions i learned to work under and i'll tell y'all right now Brad worked 
> harder than any one of us. You could not imagine the pressure that bears down on 
> HH to get product out faster. When I was client relations manager, oh boy, did I 
> ever feel it! We were all working full bore, 100 percent of the time.
> 
> Here is an example of what not rushing to get a mediocre product means, from 
> something I saw when I was there: there was a time last fall when the 
> coverplates we were supposed to get weren't there when they were supposed to 
> have been and we ran out of coverplates, again, you can't imagine the kind of 
> pressure that was on us to get instruments out the door. when the parts finally 
> arrived, it felt so great, we had coverplates and we could start getting B-rads 
> out the door again. But, no, there was some imperfection in them. 200 
> coverplates, all with some kind of imperfection.  i don't remember what it was 
> exactly, but Brad rejected the entire batch because of those imperfections. we 
> were not about to send them out like that, because that's not how HH rolls and 
> it's not how Brad rolls. that was about three weeks lost. Any idea how precious 
> that three weeks was to us? damn precious. 
> When you are in a situation like that, with that kind of pressure, you have to 
> have a set of brass balls to stop production to keep from sending out a 
> substandard product. 
> 
>  
> By the time i left in february, most of those types of things had been ironed 
> out and they were still working on improving when i left. even if everything 
> runs to perfection, it doesn't mean that everybody gets their instruments 
> tomorrow, but it means that there is a tangible end to the backlog nobody 
> anticipated. there's no machine where you pull a lever and out pops a b-rad. 
> it's still a hand-built instrument.  under the best of conditions, that takes 
> time. 
> 
>  
> Also, there was a post a few days ago requesting that a maker retool and mill 
> reeds vertically. Vertically-milled reeds has been this holy grail makers have 
> been after since at least the 1930s, I've seen documentation going back that 
> far. The B-radical is the only harmonica with vertically-milled reeds. Having 
> seen it done at Harrison, I can see why has done it. It's not easy to do, not 
> easy at all. 
> 
>  
>  
> David
> www.elkriverharmonicas.com
>  
> 
> 
> 
> 
> ________________________________
> From: "dzeller@xxxxxxxxxxx" <dzeller@xxxxxxxxxxx>
> To: harp-l@xxxxxxxxxx
> Cc: dzeller@xxxxxxxxxxx
> Sent: Thu, April 14, 2011 9:13:17 PM
> Subject: [Harp-L] B-Radical
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Regarding the B-Radical, I would like to offer the following input.  As a guy 
> who placed an order on the first hour of the first day that one could do so,  I 
> can say:  good things are worth waiting for. I ordered 3 harps that day after 
> playing Jason Ricci's prototype B Radical which completely blew my socks off.  
> This is coming from a guy who maintained and used great custom Marine Band harps 
> from Jimmy Gordon for years (until he started rivetting them back together to 
> prevent my own reedwork which apparently wasn't up to standard!). I received the 
> B-Radical C harp 5 months ago and have played it extensively since then at home 
> as well as at gigs, and was so pleased with it added several more harps to my 
> order immediately.  I will be receiving 3 more within the next several weeks: 
> thankfully got the email stating they are ready to go out.  I have spoken to the 
> folks at Harrison numerous times during these months, and gather that this labor 
> of love conceived by Brad Harrison did have some stumbling blocks and unexpected 
> delays, along with its triumphs.  But rather than rush through with a mediocre 
> product to satisfy impatient clientele he has stuck to his mission to create the 
> finest quality harmonica ever produced,  and to produce every individual harp 
> with the handmade and individualized quality that went into his first harp.  I 
> cannot even imagine the crap he had to go through to stay the course, nor the 
> financial shortfall likely suffered due to insisting that nothing less 
> than perfect leave Harrison Harmonicas.  I want everyone out there interested in 
> Harrison to know, and believe, that the playability, quality control, tuning, 
> timbre, tone, overblowability, loudness, and durability of the harp are 
> unsurpassed.  My C remains in good tune and as airtight as the day I received 
> it.(and I have been know to blow out Speccial 20s on DAY 1) 
> 
> 
> I have never met Brad and have no connections to the company: this is 
> unsolicited and honest feedback. 
> 
> 
> 
> 
>  Perhaps Brad is guilty of not accurately anticipating/predicting the problems 
> and delays inherent in breaking such new ground in initiating this collossal 
> project and producing harmonicas of this high caliber, but trust me when I tell 
> you that he is succeeding.   Those of you waiting: hang in there, and know that 
> when you get your harp it will be great.  Those like Bob waiting and watching to 
> decide whether they are worth the cost of 5 stock mass produced harps, I can 
> only say they are the finest thing you'll ever play!  Keep up the good work Brad 
> and all the fine folks at Harrison Harmonicas! 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Zig 
> 
> 
> 
> (Following up on: 
> 
>  $500 B-radical on ebay 
> So did anyone ever explain what's happened to the B-Radical harp folks? I 
> was trying to follow the thread and see but may have missed it. If so, 
> please e-mail me off-list. Curious mind wants to know. I looked at the 
> Harrison Web site and it appears the same as ever, yet we are told no 
> B-Radicals are available. Wassup? 
> Thanks and Happy Webtrails, 
> Bob Loomis)