[Harp-L] What Should a Harmonica Cost?

[Richard Sleigh <rharp@xxxxxxxxxx>]

What should a harmonica cost?

Two stories:

1. I had a conversation with a man who is a music instructor at Penn State University. His specialty is the bassoon. I asked him about the instrument he was playing, and he told me that it cost him $30,000 from the instrument maker, then he had it shipped to California where he had another person make final adjustments to it. This cost him an additional $6000. He also paid the freight both ways.

He also spends hours every week hand carving the reeds that he uses in the instrument.

2. When I got the idea in 1984 of how to build a harmonica that would bend notes blowing and drawing, I set out to build one. Over the next 8 years or so, i spent easily $10,000 and untold hours to build a prototype that really played well.

I ended up with one prototype that played well enough to get on stage with, but it was bulky, a lot of work to play, and did not sound as good as one of my simple short harps. It was like dreaming of a Rolls Royce while driving a beat up bread truck. 

What is it worth to you to get the sounds in your head out into the world?

To me, buying an SUB 30 for $200 plus whatever it costs to get the perfect comb, etc, and spending a couple hours working on it to get a harp that plays some of the music I hear in my head is the deal of the century.  

Richard Sleigh

P.O. Box 23
Boalsburg PA 16827

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