Re: [Harp-L] B-Radical

[Michael Rubin <michaelrubinharmonica@xxxxxxxxx>]

I think if you kick the horse enough, it'll whinny.  Nope, still dead.

Actually,  I don't mind rehashing stuff forever, it just seemed funny to me
to make this joke.  Kick away!
Michael Rubin
michaelrubinharmonica.com

On Fri, Mar 11, 2016 at 2:24 PM, Mick Zaklan <mzaklan@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:

>    I don't claim to know Brad very well.  I met him in the early 90's at
> the Windy City Harmonica Club.  He was a very good diatonic player back
> then.  If he had devoted his time to playing the instrument rather than
> designing and building a better one; I think we'd be still be discussing
> him on this list, but in a whole different context.  Because he had really
> good chops, ideas, and energy.  Big upside, I thought.
>    At that time, I think he was making a pretty good living working as a
> waiter in high end Chicago steak houses.  The kind of joints where
> celebrity athletes are spotted regularly.  He had a few stories.  Maybe
> that's where he honed some of his salesmanship and likability.  I used to
> run into him occasionally at SPAH.  He was by then working for one of the
> major harmonica companies.  Suzuki, I think.  I remember he was frustrated
> and to some degree felt disrespected.  He told me he would suggest diatonic
> harmonica improvements to his superiors and they would respond something
> like this:  "Ahhh, and tell me again from what university you received your
> engineering degree?"  In retrospect, perhaps if he had an engineering
> degree he might have avoided some of these expensive pitfalls that have
> been described by our list members.  Or maybe even rejected the whole idea
> of it.
>    I like the guy; but maybe I wouldn't if I had money tied up in one of
> these phantom harps.  Fortunately, he told me he couldn't build me a low F
> until he got the basic keys produced.  Which he never did.  I tend to think
> of him as like a guy in a casino chasing a loss by doubling down on it.
>    He also told me that he had received a six figure offer for his design
> from one of the harmonica companies, but had decided to build the thing
> himself.  If true, big mistake.  I'm guessing he's haunted by this whole
> thing.  I know I would be.  I can't think anything worse than not being
> able to show your face at a SPAH or any other gathering of harmonica
> players, ever.  He's like that old short story we had to read as kids, "A
> Man Without a Country".
>    I get that an apology is in order, that people are generally forgiving,
> and that it might even make Brad feel better.  Over the years, though, I've
> seen quite a few similar scenarios where lawyers advise that a formal
> apology pretty much guarantees a successful lawsuit for monetary damages.
>    I feel sorry for all parties involved.  As I said, I'd be hot too if I
> got burned on one these harmonicas.
>
> Mick Zaklan
>