Re: [Harp-L] B-Radical

[The Iceman <icemanle@xxxxxxx>]

 Wouldn't it be nice to imagine Brad, after giving his heart and soul to a labor of love and watching it fail before his eyes, eventually crawling out of this black state of mind, moving out of Chicago and finally finding another promising idea (in the culinary field) as well as able to approach it with the experience and knowledge gained from his first venture?

 

 

-----Original Message-----
From: Michael Rubin <michaelrubinharmonica@xxxxxxxxx>
To: Mick Zaklan <mzaklan@xxxxxxxxx>
Cc: harp-l <harp-l@xxxxxxxxxx>; 3N037 <3N037@xxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Fri, Mar 11, 2016 3:43 pm
Subject: Re: [Harp-L] B-Radical

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
>