Re: [Harp-L] Hohner Reeds: Damned if you Do, Damned if you Don't



Hi Steve. What I think Damien was referring to was mainly chromos. He is a supercalifragilistic player and has a very vivacious style but (for example) our styles are different. For example: He plays 'Ghega di Suidade' and so do I, but while he is 'crying' the notes and milking them into smears that become other notes, I am adding a multitude of other notes. Therefore, while he stays on a reed for a significant time with a modicum of pressure I am not on any one reed for very long.

So, I can see his point. One would prefer a harp that started out reasonably tight and well made and THEN tweak it even farther. Now, conversely, if the harp were ALREADY tighter and still not responsive, then there would be no where to go as there is no 'cushion' to improve on. In other words. with a chromo running at 90%, there is the possibility of squeezing out another 5 to 6% YOUR way, but with a chromo running at 95%, there's not much room left to get it YOUR way.

I was a little shocked when he stated that he couldn't play Hohner 270s any more, but given that he is like a champion golfer and ALREADY in the 'scratch' range, I can see where ANY deviation in his custom clubs could prevent him from going 9 under in a particular tourney. Since I'm more of an 84 score, what chromo I play makes no difference.

I (myself) use Hohner 270s if I want mellow, and Hering 5148s if I want bright. For diatonics, I use the spl-20 MB exclusively. There may be a better diatonic, but just as it's easier to get a distributor for a Ford than a Volvo at a small town auto parts store, or a box of 22s rather than 22 magnums at a small town mom & pop hardware store, I prefer to be able to replace a diatonic at ANY time, any where, any place, for any reason, any HOW.

As to prices, If Maserati made a harp, I could buy it, so that's no concern. Just as gas is no concern and I'm willing to pay for it because when the gas runs out, the people selling it will be back to eating sand. C'est la Vie. I agree with you. The spl-20s have been ok. I recently picked up 6.

smokey-joe



On Jul 8, 2008, at 12:34 AM, steve warner wrote:

My newest batch of Sp 20's are the warmest sounding "out of the box" harps
I've ever heard. I don't need customs, but it would be nice to get some
Gordon SP 20's, though. The tonal quality throughout the bends are very
consistant without any ''break'' in warmth. Very consitant! The only other
stock harp with this type of comb that had this warmth throughout its
dynamic range were several Suzuki BluesMasters I bought about 5 years
ago.


Jim's Music gives the SP 20's and Blues Harps to me 5 bucks cheaper out
the door than any online store, not to mention shipping, so it's a no
brainer for me to blow the piss out of them and then buy some more. I love
em'.






On 7/7/08, Brendan Power <bren@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

Poor old Hohner are getting a hard time, and to me a lot of it seems unfair. Though I work for Suzuki, I feel a protective urge to leap to their defence!

My friend Damien Masterson wrote:

Before 2005, you could take an imperfect stock instrument and have
it tweaked and tuned to just your liking. Now, they've narrowed the
slots, making it next to impossible to emboss. They made some other
changes, and the instruments don't play like Hohners. ...If it
was Rick Epping, I wish they would bring him out of retirement to undo
the damage.


Hmmm... That seems kind of strange! What you are saying Damien, is that
you'd rather Hohner made leaky 'imperfect' harps, just so a select few
can get them embossed and tweaked to their liking. That seems rather
elitist. What about the vast majority of players, who just want to buy a
stock harp that works well out of the box? For them, life with a Hohner
harp has improved.


Before the new reeds and reedplates came in there were never-ending
complaints about how leaky and unresponsive they'd become. As a
customiser myself, I can verify how poor they were. But due largely to a
lot of hard work from master technician Rick Epping, Hohner quality has
undoubtedly improved in all areas, not just in reed response but also
(as you point out) in the slide mechanisms of their chromatics.


An out of the box Hohner 64, 270, Special 20/Golden Melody/Marine Band
Classic is now a much more airtight and responsive harp than it was 5
years ago. Whether the tone is better or worse is a subjective issue.
Some will like the brighter, crisper sound that the much-improved
reed/slot tolerances impart, others will prefer the tone of earlier
models.


I've heard similar complaints from other customisers, who say they can't
emboss the slots of the new Hohner harps because the reeds are tighter
in the slots. To me, that seems like a GOOD thing: a manufacturer
responding to customer complaints to make improvements so, for the
majority, the harps don't NEED to be customised to make them play
decently.


So yes, I'd say the best thing for Damien and others who feel the same
way is to just buy up heaps of old pre-2005 harps and spend lots of
money customising them to their personal taste, and leave Hohner to make
good harps for the majority of players.


(Pssst... I have lots of 'old' Hohner chromatics (pre-2005) I can let
you have for a song. Or should I wait for 20 years till those old piles
of junk become 'Collectors Items'?)


It's tough being a harmonica company!

Brendan
WEB: http://www.brendan-power.com <http://www.brendan-power.com/>


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-- steve www.thunderharpmics.com fattest tone on earth! _______________________________________________ Harp-L is sponsored by SPAH, http://www.spah.org Harp-L@xxxxxxxxxx http://harp-l.org/mailman/listinfo/harp-l

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