Re: [Harp-L] repair people for chromatic harmonica

[George Miklas <harmonicat@xxxxxxxxx>]

"So how do the repair people working on chromatic harmonicas make a living?"

During the academic year, I teach full time, drive tour bus on weekends,
music performance (harmonica and/or electric bass), and repair harmonicas
in my free time.
During the summer, I drive tour bus 50-70 hours per week, music performance
(harmonica and/or electric bass), and repair harmonicas in my free time.

Always working and busy  ..and lovin' every minute of it !!!


*George Miklas,* Harmonica Performing Artist and
Entertainer<http://harmonicagallery.com/>

*THE HARMONICA WIZARD MARCH* by John Philip
Sousa<http://harmonicagallery.com/sousa>
-  *Harmonica Repair* Done Right by George<http://harmonicagallery.com/repair>
-  *HOHNER <http://us.playhohner.com/>* *Harmonicas*<http://us.playhohner.com/>
*...Just Breathe* <http://us.playhohner.com/>
*SPAH *- Society for the Preservation and Advancement of the Harmonica,
<http://spah.org/>a non-profit, membership organization dedicated to
serving the harmonica community. <http://spah.org/>




On Mon, Jun 3, 2013 at 10:26 PM, JON KIP <jonkip@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

>
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> On Jun 3, 2013, at 5:24 PM, harp-l-request@xxxxxxxxxx wrote:
>
> >> A) Satisfaction with completed harmonica based on requested services.
> >> B) Changes you would consider on your next order.
> >> C) Quality of communication.
> >> D) Speed of completed harmonica.
> >> E) Probability of using and recommending the same person again.
>
>
> (this may or may not apply to diatonic-based repair people, I don't know
> any of them.)
>
> I'd want to ask two other questions:
>
> F) how much sleep do you get?
> G) How do you survive on so little sleep?
>
> Being a chromatic horn-smasher can't be an easy way to make a living. In
> my past life, I played Expensive Instruments, like flute, oboe, sax,
> clarinet, in return for money, a health plan, and the chance to play pretty
> nice woodwind solos while my friends in the string section checked their
> stock portfolios. In Chromatic-harmonica-based dollars, repair people for
> those costly horns can be really expensive.  And at times, their repair can
> easily cost more than the total cost of an average chromatic harmonica,
> plus shipping.
>
> So the chromatic repair folks are clearly in a bind. Their hourly cost of
> living is the same as the rest of us.... we eat, we have homes, we go to
> work, we come home, have cars, children dreaming of college, and ex-wives
> to pay for. How many people will pay $100 an hour for someone to fix a $200
> instrument? The answer is "not enough." or, alternatively, "too few".
>
> Ok, if you're playing a $4000 chromatic harmonica, it might make sense...
> but buying a $4000 chromatic harmonica is just plain silly, unless you buy
> six or eight, and tune them to various versions of "A=44x" and then it's
> just ...oh... .yeah,....expensive and silly.
>
> So how do the repair people working on chromatic harmonicas make a living?
>
> I'm not sure, I've only known two, and one of them is dead, and the other
> one writes me emails way after midnight, his time.
>
> jk
> jonkip.com
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