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Today's Topics:
1. Re: B-Radical (David Payne)
2. mixed bag of items for sale (PRO JUNIOR)
3. Re: B-Radical (The Iceman)
4. USA only... (PRO JUNIOR)
5. Re: Re: Buckeye Cancelled (The Iceman)
6. RE: B-Radical (Buck Worley)
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Message: 1
Date: Wed, 20 Apr 2011 22:14:31 -0700 (PDT)
From: David Payne <dave@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Subject: Re: [Harp-L] B-Radical
To: Harp L Harp L <harp-l@xxxxxxxxxx>
Message-ID: <868506.89885.qm@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1
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)
------------------------------
Message: 2
Date: Thu, 21 Apr 2011 08:51:08 -0400
From: PRO JUNIOR <projunior17815@xxxxxxxxx>
Subject: [Harp-L] mixed bag of items for sale
To: harp-l@xxxxxxxxxx
Message-ID: <BANLkTimt=m2Eo3jO19zqDyaXA=CKW54bFQ@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1
Shaker Madcat Microphone. Very good condition. hardly used..$75 +5.00
postage...
D112/C Harmonica microphone by Superlux $35.00 + 5.00 postage
Lone Wolf Delay Pedal.. $95.00 +5.00 postage
rocktron dual channel hush pedal 35.00 +5.00 postage
Electro Harmonix 2880 multitrack looper and foot control pedal $350.00 +
15.00 postage
Jerry Portnoy.s Blues Harmonica Masterclass $30.00 + 5.00 postage
Rupert Oysler's Harmonica Repair and Modification DVD set $30.00 + 5.00
postage
Peter "Madcat" Ruth-The ins and outs of rhythm harp $10.00 +5.00
postage...
All items excelent condition...
Paypal only..
contact :
projunior17815@xxxxxxxxx
Thanx for looking
--
--
"If we don't believe in freedom of expression for
people we despise, we don't believe in it at all."
*-- Noam Chomsky*
------------------------------
Message: 3
Date: Thu, 21 Apr 2011 09:23:28 -0400 (EDT)
From: The Iceman <icemanle@xxxxxxx>
Subject: Re: [Harp-L] B-Radical
To: harp-l@xxxxxxxxxx
Message-ID: <8CDCE3E6F578C25-F3C-2B7F@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
Not rushing to get a mediocre product out is understandable.
Lack of communication to those waiting for their prepaid order is a slight
slap in the face to those that supported the concept from inception. A lot
of negative feelings can be washed away through simple returning of phone
calls or responses to email - the latter being the 21st Century easy
remedy. Customer service can make or break a company, regardless of the
quality of the product.
-----Original Message-----
From: David Payne <dave@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: Harp L Harp L <harp-l@xxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Wed, Apr 20, 2011 9:15 pm
Subject: Re: [Harp-L] B-Radical
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)
------------------------------
Message: 4
Date: Thu, 21 Apr 2011 09:34:00 -0400
From: PRO JUNIOR <projunior17815@xxxxxxxxx>
Subject: [Harp-L] USA only...
To: harp-l@xxxxxxxxxx
Message-ID: <BANLkTin-FuM4OWTBwYk4moBdmVKe0mX8hw@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1
I am sorry but I should have stated that the shipping will be USA only...
--
--
"If we don't believe in freedom of expression for
people we despise, we don't believe in it at all."
*-- Noam Chomsky*
------------------------------
Message: 5
Date: Thu, 21 Apr 2011 10:06:11 -0400 (EDT)
From: The Iceman <icemanle@xxxxxxx>
Subject: Re: [Harp-L] Re: Buckeye Cancelled
To: harp-l@xxxxxxxxxx
Message-ID: <8CDCE4466E16ADD-F3C-366C@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
Joe asks:
<<The point was that offering something unique, fresh and new does a lot
to
regenerate as well as keep attendance levels up there.
Ok, what are your suggestions for something unique, fresh, or new. Maybe
you
could offer an outline or sylibus to the festival committees. >>
My last few emails did offer suggestions that have proven successful in
the past. Recent offlist responses to them reinforce the fact that others
have found them valid as well. However, offlist and private just show a
silent support and are not verifiable due to respect in confidentiality.
I wonder why posters are reticent to speak publicly on a public forum.
Could it be that they've witnessed flaming to new ideas and are
uncomfortable? Could the very fact that my past style of posting has
created a fear of agreeing with me publicly in favor of not ruffling
feathers?
All I know is effective results so often differ from perception of results
by those who manage events. Too often management cries out "Bigger, better
than ever, always improving" while attendance is dropping and the future
looks dim, indeed. This is not only evident in the harmonica community,
but seems to be prevalent in so many other events, so I guess it is really
human nature. There is an approach of "fake it till you make it", in which
you offer a positive spin on events that are going south in the hopes that
eventually the real world will catch on and change direction.
I've always been more focused on quantifiable results than hung up on
perception. Attendance numbers, memberships, tickets sold at the door,
returning customers, video sales, preorders/pre-registration numbers, etc.
In my world, if these numbers are dwindling, than something needs to
change, no matter how uncomfortable it is to change - unless it has
unlimited funding by a benefactor with no need for return on the $ to
survive.
As far as offering an outline to a committee, it is best to offer help
when asked directly rather than offer unsolicited help, as that rarely is
appreciated. In all fairness, I have been asked to help out with post-Tate
SPAHs, but have declined due to what I've perceived as too many cooks
involved and a lack of razor sharp vision with the fearlessness to carry
out radical and rapid changes. This is purely my perception, as my
personal philosophy is to effectively craft something that has a
gravitational pull to it and not be sidetracked by trying to please
everybody all the time. I'm not saying that trying to please everybody all
the time is wrong or a bad approach; it just hasn't worked well for me in
crafting successful events.
I am saddened as anyone to see the demise of events due to lack of
attendance and hope that SPAH can turn the situation around. Hey, it seems
to me that Gindick had a good idea, as his events (expensive as they are)
are self sufficient and he always seems to find new blood. I've always
been a fan of finding successful events/people and either mirroring or at
the very least seriously examining the aspects of a proven formula that
works as an effective recipe for success.
Larry
------------------------------
Message: 6
Date: Thu, 21 Apr 2011 08:25:45 -0500
From: Buck Worley <boogalloo@xxxxxxx>
Subject: RE: [Harp-L] B-Radical
To: <dave@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>, <harp-l@xxxxxxxxxx>
Message-ID: <SNT143-w64511F018FF03FB0ED7C9CA1920@xxxxxxx>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"
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)
End of Harp-L Digest, Vol 92, Issue 48
**************************************