Re: Re: [Harp-L] Gapping/Embossing, am I doing it right?...long.



I just can't think that a professional customiser would ever regard himself (herself) as being in competition with inveterate tinkerers such as myself. I try to adjust my own harps because I don't earn money from playing, I can't afford customised harps generally-speaking, and because it gives me a lot of satisfaction. Knowing what to do is not the same as knowing how to do it properly, tidily and with supreme precision. I like the way my harps sound when I've tinkered, but, on the one occasion I got a couple from a customiser, I was bowled over by the difference. The best customiser on the planet could publish his methods in graphic detail if he could find the words, but 99% of us would still make a relative hash of it I reckon.


http://mysite.wanadoo-members.co.uk/trad_irish_harmonica HEAR my CD clips: http://www.gjk2.com/steveshaw/cd.htm






From: "Greg Hommert" <mythacles@xxxxxxx>
To: harp-l@xxxxxxxxxx
Subject: Re: Re: [Harp-L] Gapping/Embossing, am I doing it right?...long.
Date: Sat, 06 May 2006 17:38:32 -0500

Richard Hunter writes;

"Frankly, it's  unclear to me from Greg
Hommert's questions what his intentions are --  they could easily be to
set himself up in competition to Messrs.  Sleigh, Gordon, Filisko, etc."


EGS1217 writes;


"Pardon my take on it...but it seems clear that if anyone here wants such
information from Joe Filisko, Richard Sleigh and Jimmy Gordon (the Filisko
"Guild", as they are known) they can write to any and/or each of these gentlemen
(they have individual websites) and ask them just what it is they use and how
they set up their harps. If they then respond that the information is
proprietary, then that is your answer....and what right does anyone else have to
question that decision? Could anyone here possibly believe that any expert
(Vern included) becomes wealthy working on harmonicas?"



.... I'm not even nineteen yet, ofcourse I DO NOT PLAN ON CONTENDING W/ "Messrs. Sleigh, Gordon, Filisko, etc.". But how many times have I heard Joe Filisko or Buzz Krantz say "all the best players know how to work on their own harps."


I believe there is truth to this, as well as a good point. My questions as to the combs.. I (personally) don't know pf a single person aside from these guys that seals wooden combs! No matter what kind of harp they're doing it to; so ofcourse I used them as examples (/references). If anything I apologize for my lack of knowledge, but I figured that was what harp-l was used for.. curing the ailments of harmonica-linked ignorance. It's not a matter of stealing anyone's secrets.. there's a difference between stealing a secret, and acquiring a small basis of knowledge on a subject.
In truth I have no specific reference to go to other than these e-mails. I only get to see filisko's teachins once a year at spah (which, w/ the beginning of college this year I will not be able to attend.. sooo), and the teach-in's themselves are usually very crowded and dfficult to acult any individual instruction.


In short.. I just wanna make sure I'm doin it right; in order to advance my skills as a harmonica "player", not a harmonica "customizer".. pretty hard to easily utilize the overblow/draw methods on a normal stock-harp golden melody.. in which case you might see my initial dilemma...


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