Re: [Harp-L] Re: Harp tech gurus

[Larry Sandy <slyou65@xxxxxxxxx>]

Smokie, history is being made.... I kinda, a wee little bit disagree with something you say.. Not that you're wrong (EEEKKK) but that I see an opposing view.  Now suppose you don't know anyone in the harp world except your Uncle Whittaker  who just handed you one of his old, tired harmonicas he has been hoarding behind his moonshine flask since 1942.  Where do you turn for getting it serviced?  Harp-L would nowadays become my first look-see in the hopes someone could steer me to the worst, mediocre, good or best(?) repair person or customizer.  I would hate to think the relic given me by U.Whit that I hold so dearly would be entrusted to someone who would mess it up or, yee gads, destroy it.  It happens.  But the chances of having a successful repair made by a highly recommended person would be much better, I perceive. 

I do most of my own repair, tuning, "customizing" and deep cleaning but I would never recommend ME for professional work.  ( I love my harps, usually)

I could recommend a few service technicians based upon my own experience to the inquiring newby, but if someone else had bad experiences with my recommendation, well then, the newby would be advised to use prudence in whom to entrust his relic to.  On the other hand, if accolades were piled atop certain persons by respected Harp-L'ers it would be reasonable to expect a great, old relic serviced correctly, to re-break trying one's first overblows.

I have made some friends in the harp world in the past few years and have, offline, recommended whom I felt would do the best job in particular inquiries.  At a minimum I gave the inquirers leads with whom they could contact.  

Now Smokie, I'll un-bow my head, stand up and salute you, my friend, as one of the guru's of successful makeshift repairs.  If you couldn't fashion a new 6hole reed from a pop can tab for that old overblown relic, well, there's no hope U. Whit's gift would ever play "On Top of Old Smokie" again.  I would send any of my favorites to you for service if you do that nowadays. Do you?

IF there was a "certification" for service experts at least one of me would feel a little comfort in choosing whom to contact when my favorite Grandpa Galapolis's Pre-war Marine Band needed service and I had no access to all the great Harp-L techs.
 
I do hope our new friend gets some guidance from this strung out post.  Just don't send it to me.  :>)

Sleepy Lockjaw Larry
Sticking my foot in my mouth daily.


--- On Mon, 6/3/13, Joseph Leone <3n037@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

> From: Joseph Leone <3n037@xxxxxxxxxxx>
> Subject: Re: [Harp-L] Re: Harp tech gurus
> To: diachrome@xxxxxxxxxxx
> Cc: "Harp L Harp L" <harp-l@xxxxxxxxxx>
> Date: Monday, June 3, 2013, 3:40 PM
> Hi Mike. While I openly agree with
> your assessment of the situation and feeling about
> qualification(s), I wish to call you attention to a few
> factors.
> 
> Many many years ago I was a general construction man. All
> phases of construction. Footer to roof. I laid out the
> footer, I supervised the roof. And worked on everything in
> between. I worked for a small non union operation. Many of
> the jobs that we acquired were repairs to jobs that had been
> union done. At the time a union construction man was
> averaging $5.63 an hour. And they usually specialized. I was
> non union, made only $2.50 an hour and a lot of the jobs I
> repaired were ghastly. So, I don't think certification is
> that big a deal.
> I don't say this to pick on union workers. Merely to point
> out that one would think that someone with journeyman or
> master mechanic status would do a better job than some non
> union 'Kid'. 
> 
> I have known many many people whom having had no prior
> knowledge of remodeling, were able to do a better job than a
> contractor. Main reason? They took their time, felt that if
> something wasn't right, they would tear it out and fix it.
> Mainly because they were already saving on labor. They also
> usually used better materials.
> 
> At the present time, I happen to know several top notch
> technicians whom DON't take jobs. One is a designer/inventor
> who makes harmonicas from scratch. Another has a busy day
> job and would be swamped. And so is VERY selective. And
> asking a general list whom the best technicians will be like
> asking what wine a person prefers. Just as in 'What's the
> best ootb diatonic or chromatic'? A thousand people will
> have a thousand answers. 
> 
> The reason I say this is that I have, over the years, read
> many critiques on items written by people whom are not at
> all knowledgeable about said products, have had limited
> exposure to them, don't know much about other competitor's
> products. It's so easy for (for example) someone to say: "
> Barry Finsterwald is a great tech. ", when Barry is the ONLY
> one they have experience with. 
> 
> And this is why I think you never got much in the way of
> feedback. I don't think anyone has experience with all the
> techs. So no one can really rate them...for the general
> population. Only for themselves.
> 
> You? Yes I would give YOU a masters papers. So with much
> respect......smokey-joe
> 
>        
> 
> On Jun 3, 2013, at 6:04 PM, diachrome@xxxxxxxxxxx
> wrote:
> 
> > 
> > Somewhere between 2000 and 2002 I wrote a long winded
> post to harpl with the idea of finding a way to 
> > offer certification for harp techs so customers know
> the guy that is working on their harps is qualified. Then as
> now anybody with a how to book and a few tools can call
> themselves a harp tech or customizer without having gone
> through the process of knowing exactly what they are doing.
> I feel now as I did then that you should have a thorough
> knowledge of repairs before even attempting to customize.
> The background as a repair tech should precede being able to
> call oneself a customizer. At the time I refused to repair
> any custom harps with the exception of Pat Missin's or
> Brendan's US and Canada customers. I felt if you can't fix
> it you shouldn't be selling it. 
> > 
> > 
> > I did not get favorable feedback at the time. Most of
> the backlash came from other techs who eventually didn't
> make it past the 5 years mark. 
> > 
> > 
> > I have bent my rule and have a working relationship
> with at least one customizer whose work I admire a lot. But
> that is a rare exception. 
> > 
> > 
> > Now Hohner has it's own form of certification program.
> The only hitch with that is you can't work on other brand
> harps once you become a recognized Hohner customizer. I
> think this only relates to diatonic customizers. 
> > 
> > 
> > Evolution has a way of weeding out the weak and the
> same is true with techs. The ones that treat it like a Craft
> have the fortitude to persevere. Those looking for easy
> income don't last very long. 
> > 
> > 
> > Of the 5 points below I feel "D)' should rarely be an
> issue when you are dealing with knowledgeable techs. 
> > Quality takes time. No short cut around it. If someone
> offers fast turnaround times and will take as many repairs
> as you can ship at once, that would be a red flag in my
> book. They are just looking to horde business away from
> other techs and creating unrealistic deadlines for
> themselves. In that instance both the tech and customer have
> diluted expectations. 
> > 
> > 
> > mike 
> > www.harmonicarepair.com 
> > 
> > 
> > 
> > 
> > Message: 5 
> > Date: Sun, 2 Jun 2013 17:21:07 -0700 (PDT) 
> > From: Larry Sandy <slyou65@xxxxxxxxx>
> 
> > Subject: Re: [Harp-L] Harp Tech Gurus 
> > To: Harp-L <harp-l@xxxxxxxxxx>,
> Eric Miller <miller.eric.t@xxxxxxxxx>
> 
> > Message-ID: 
> > <1370218867.63236.YahooMailClassic@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> 
> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1 
> > 
> > 
> > Hi Eric, 
> > 
> > Great idea to publish the who's who of harp repair and
> customizing. 
> > 
> > It would be very interesting and potentially valuable
> to Harp-L citizens to evaluate various customizers and
> repair persons, both domestic and abroad. There are several
> outstanding service providers on our great Harp-L list and
> this would be a great opportunity to honor those who deserve
> our recognition and appreciation publicly. 
> > 
> > Of course there are a few that it may be prudent to
> avoid entrusting a favorite or expensive harmonica with, and
> it would be great to know who these are. Who doesn't recall
> the many victims of Harrison a few years ago? 
> > 
> > I would suggest evaluations based on the following
> criteria: Feel free to add to /delete from this list. 
> > 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. 
> > 
> > The primary purpose of this exercise is to pay
> recognition and recommend our favorite specialists. Off list
> communication may be appropriate in some cases. 
> > 
> > Lockjaw Larry 
> > Wondering who are the best, daily 
> > 
> 
> 
>