Re: [Harp-L] Cheap/Huang => so harp became a rich man's game (?)

["TedvA" <knuppel@xxxxxxxxx>]

Tom,
thanks for clearing things up!

Btw. I liked your <shudder> just before the 'banjos'. Don't know if that was
accidental, or if you looked up my occupation first, but I've been trying to
make a living for 23 years now in the Blue Grass Boogiemen playing the 5
string banjo :-)  In Harp-L I read about 'the harmonica not being taken
seriously' and stuff, well <grin> I'm playing 2 of those instruments (banjo
ánd harmonica).
"Very nice banjo-playing boy, but why don't you play a serious instrument
like guitar or saxophone"

Cheers!
Bart
www.bluegrassboogiemen.nl
the Netherlands, Europe



----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Tom Ball" <havaball@xxxxxxx>
To: "TedvA" <knuppel@xxxxxxxxx>
Cc: <harp-l@xxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Friday, June 28, 2013 12:14 AM
Subject: Re: [Harp-L] Cheap/Huang => so harp became a rich man's game (?)


Bart,

Of course there's never anything wrong with
trying to save money. But my statement is
"rubbish"?  Beg to differ. Please note my
wording, "the musician who stops buying good
instruments...."  In other words, buys bad
instruments.

Perhaps you interpreted my post as an endorsement
of expensive, custom harps...(?)  Not the case.
For the last 30 years I've played Special 20s
straight from the box. No tweeking, no embossing,
no customization. (It should be noted I'm using
the US "handmade' SP20s rather than the European
MS counterparts.) Last I looked, these things had
a list price of about $50 US but can be found for
as little as $30 or so if you shop around.

Sure, we all complain about price increases and
can remember when they were under five bucks. But
then, a beer used to cost 50 cents and a movie
ticket was a buck, too.  I don't consider $30 too
expensive for a professional-level instrument;
particularly since they last twice as long as
they used to. Hohner's quality of workmanship on
the SP20 has advanced light-years from where it
was 10-20 years ago. I've tried 'em all, but I
keep coming back to SP20s. Of course the world is
full of people with differing opinions, and
that's fine.

Point I was trying to make is: if a harp player
honestly wants to get the most out of their
playing, they can't cut back to absolute bare
bones junk or toys... if they do, they'll be
fighting a largely unplayable instrument and
wondering why it doesn't respond. They'll either
get frustrated and give up, or simply never
improve. Same goes for guitars, pianos or even
<shudder> banjos and accordions. :-)

cheers,
TBall
PS: This player sho' don't "make loads of money
aside from making music." I just look like it.
<cough> :-)





> I know it's meant to be funny Tom, but you do know it's rubbish, right?
> When did trying to save some money became a bad thing? I try to save money
> on éverything, for the simple reason that I have to.
> I read the silliest things, like 'buy expensive', 'but the best you can
> get', 'buy custom', 'dont try to save money', etc... Some of you guys
> probably make loads of money aside from making music, but unfortunately not
> everybody does. And don't start telling me now that harmonica's are cheap,
> because they're not.
> Man, I would love to buy me a couple of customized harps from all over the
> place ... but never did and probably never will. For the plain and simple
> reason that I just can't afford a couple of 100 euros to buy me a harp
> that's a little less leaky and so I don't have to work so hard on that
> thing. (Unless somebody can convince me that those harps don't blow out
> just as fast as the cheaper stuff, like Golden Melody or Lee Oskar) Mmm
> okay, so I just work a bit harder to still try to make music I like. And
> maybe try some embossing, tuning and customizing myself on a cheap harp. Ye
> never know...
>
> So MHO: it's okay to save a few bucks by practicing on Huangs and save your
> Hohner & Suzuki's for the gig. Life is expensive enough as it is
>
> Sorry, had to get this of my chest
> btw. I do stop the clock every now and than to save some time! ;-)
> Cheers
> Bart
>
>
>
>
>
> Aha, so trying
> ----- Original Message ----- From: "Tom Ball" <havaball@xxxxxxx>
> To: <harp-l@xxxxxxxxxx>
> Sent: Thursday, June 27, 2013 2:43 AM
> Subject: Re: [Harp-L] Re: Cheap Harps
>
> > Just MHO, but methinks the musician who stops buying good instruments in
> > order to save money is somewhat akin to the person who stops a clock in
> > order to save time.
> >
> > --TBall