I've been looking to buy a few combs and I remembered that Cris was offering them for reasonable prices in fairly recent times--but I can't find his web site--anybody know what's up with that??
Where do I get good acrylic combs for killer prices these days??
"I'm sad to say that I'm going to be sidelined for about a week. Yesterday while working in the shop I injured my left hand fairly severely milling some harp combs. It landed me in the er getting my hand stitched up yesterday afternoon. Luckily I missed the artery and the doc says I shouldn't have any permanent nerve damage, but unfortunately I'm going to have to be sidelined for about a week while I heal up. I was going to go back to the shop yesterday after I got home but was advised against it as there would be a chance of tearing the stitches.
If you have an order in with me at the moment I apologize for the delay and inconvenience, I'll try and sneak back into the shop as soon as I can."
So he may have disabled the site temporarily to prevent any new orders until he mends.... ---------- Hawkeye Kane
They have a selection of corain at great prices...corian is a version of acrylic. Turnaround is a week or less for shipping (if it isn't in stock, they cut combs on the weekend).
I will never buy another Hetrick comb. Decent combs but nothing special at all. Sorry... just tellin' it like it is. Hopefully they will come up with something original instead of copying everyone else's ideas. But, that's just business... can't say that I blame 'em.
+1 for Randy Sandoval. He pays meticulous attention to detail with his work. Has great business ethic and is the pioneer of the use of Corian in Harp combs. ---------- Big Blind Ray's YouTube Channel Mavis and her China Pigs
Corian is not "a version of acrylic", it's a solid surface material which has some acrylic resin in it. Two different things- one's cheap and one ain't.
Randy adopted Corian and made it popular. But I remember a guy (from Japan maybe?) selling custom harps with Corian combs long before that.
I remember seeing this back in 2001, and I e-mailed him several times but never heard back. Someone said he studied with Joe Filisko, which could be true since his cover plates look like Filisko's.
Corian is the brand name for a material created by DuPont. It is composed of acrylic polymer and alumina trihydrate.
My post may have been a bit vague in not including that Corian was actually a "better" material than acrylic, but if it is made of acrylic polymer. I concede that "version" maybe wasn't the best word choice, but I am not wrong in describing Corian as related to acrylic.
IMO, I've tired Corian from Sjoeberg, Spiers, and Hetrick...I liked all three better than the acrylic I've tried from others. This isn't just for the finishing work, but the overall feel, and perceived dependability (which could totally be a placebo effect).
@Learning To Reed
I am interested in why you found the Hetrick stuff to not be special and what it is that others have done to make their combs feel special to you. I am also curious as to why you think he is copying others.
@all
IME, I've found the Hetrick bamboo to be the best bamboo comb on the market.
The amount of choice, turnaround, and price was revolutionary to the after market. Before his stuff came out, dymonwood combs of a standard design were often $50 or more.
I've also found in 30+ orders from Hetrick that the product continues to improve with customer feedback and they are always tweaking things to make a better drop-in comb. I've never had any problems save one early Corian comb needing extra sanding beyond my normal efforts. I like the buffed finish vs lacquer and find the tines comfortable (some will offer combs with portruding tines, which have benefits too, but it isn't my bag).
I've used more Corian since and they are awesome. They go to great lengths to ensure a good seal and tight fit. The price tag considering the work and overhead involved, combined with the turnaround time, make them a huge value.
I've ordered and tried as many combs from different makers as I can get my hands on. Just about all the makers have been very easy and fun to work with, but I haven't been thrilled with all the results.
My favorite by far is the pink ivory from Dick Sjoeberg followed by his dymonwood combs (I tend to like dymonwood more than Corian). Those combs are truly special and unique.
The comb I got from harpwrench is also awesome, but more of a traditional shape. However, seeing the effort put into flat sanding and buffing the comb, the public price tag is very fair. I wouldn't hesitate to recommend others try them out. Very cool.
I have been very impressed with what I've gotten from Hetrick for the time and money. The quality is great and any post purchase sanding I've done has been nothing compared to other combs I've bought. Most would work for direct drop-ins, but I am anal about combs.
My personal harmonicas have almost all combs from Sjoeberg, Hetrick, and Hohner (I kept the bamboo no my TBirds). I'd say 20 out of my 24 gigging harps)...almost all of them are dymonwood. I have a couple from Blue Moon and Blowyourbrassoff, and one from Joe Spiers.
Besides carrying a range of combs to show people at shows/seminars, I use these combs because I like them.
I have 2 dymonwood combs from HETRICK on my SP20's .They fit very well ,airtightness is a little better and tone is great . Only a week and a half for sipping...good work .I've ordered a "cobalt blue" corian comb ( also called "infinity of DUPONT" for a SP20 . I'll tell you . Bluemoon is going to sell corian combs , but they are not yet on the site .
I have several dymondwood combs from Hetric and I don't think they could possibly be any better, flatter or better looking. I am perfectly happy with them. ---------- /Greg
You play 1847's, right? Those combs will fit the Session Steels too. The tines stick out a tad further, but I am not crazy about recessed plates. The end result is just like a SP20 with an aftermarket comb.
@HarpNinja - I didn't really want to get into here, but since you are curious... I've already said in previous threads that the Hetrick combs I ordered were not flat and did require additional sanding. The dymondwood also looked like a piece of dull, raw wood with no finish at all. They looked like rush jobs, as did the combs they had at SPAH. Kind of homemade looking and not crisp and clean looking like other comb makers' combs. Many custom combs are not flat, no matter who makes 'em. Remember those pics harpwrench posted in another thread awhile back? Not Hetrick combs, but looked a lot like Sjoeberg to me with the metal pipes protruding, yet I like the Sjoeberg combs. He's a nice man.
The thing that made the other combs from the other guys more special is the level of professionalism I experienced. Bottom line... Matt Smart is big baby, and has acted like one on this forum, accusing Tom Halchak of making poisonous combs, etc. He got pissed off on Harp-L when Chris R. started offering bamboo combs and said he "just wanted it known" that HE was the first to offer bamboo. He also got mad and lashed out here on MBH when others recommended others' combs instead of his.
True you can offer combs made out of whatever the hell you want but there's a certain level of professional courtesy that should be extended to fellow members of such a small community like the harp community.
You know I've already said that I like and respect you, but I am also curious why someone like you is so quick to endorse and rush to the defense of such an unprofessional person as Matt Smart, not only here but in many comb threads. You're his biggest fan, which is OK. I see you as professonal, but not Matt. Sorry.
Yes, his combs may have improved since I last tried them, but there are a lot of things I consider when choosing who I do business with. Professionalism and courtesy mean just as much to me as a fast turnaround time and low price.
Some may accuse me of being harsh or whatever but this is just my opinion and rememeber, it isn't nearly as bad as some of the things people have said here about Brad Harrsion (which he deserved btw). If anyone reading this is a Hetrick fan, good for you. Buy whatever you like and what works for you. If you don't like my opinion of him, I don't really give a shit.
It is cool we have so many choices. Think what options we had 2 years ago. I like Blue Moon stuff and now they have CNC milled Corian. My customers love their stuff, too. Let's face it though.. good thing we have some choices now or we would be wasting our mid-life crisis buying expensive red cars instead of cheap red combs. ---------- Greg Jones 16:23 Custom Harmonicas greg@1623customharmonicas.com 1623customharmonicas.com
Just a quick note, the site is currently down due to a server crash at the hosting company I use. It didn't have anything to do with my injury friday, just bad timing. Should be back up in a couple days.
Hetrick no longer offers combs. Maybe he got tired of all the arguing? I was really bummed about this, because I am in the middle of building my own custom set of GMs. Hetric and Chris Reynolds are the only ones that offered the variety of colors and materials. Now, if only Chris Reynolds could deliver on the same time schedule as Hetrick used to...AND...if only Hetrick would go back to selling his combs WITH the same protruding rounded smooth tines as Chris Reynolds! I have bought a few of Halchak's (Blue Moon) combs, but the tines always seem to be milled a little strayed from perfectly vertical.
As stated in other threads, one of the two men running Hetrick left because there was a better career opportunity outside of the harmonica world.
The stuff from Hetrick was amazing, but that requires a ton of work. They made it a point to do everything as in-house as possible and as professional as possible. It was a great deal for the consumer, but not a good way to make a full-time living.
It took an hour to do one Corian comb. I've seen how it was done. Can it be done quicker than that? Yes. However, the quality suffers.
Matt left after being offered a non-harmonica related job. He is one of my best friends, but it is really bittersweet as his contributions to the harmonica world will be missed.
Those in the know realize how vital he was to aftermarket harmonica businesses well beyond what typical consumers would understand. ---------- Mantra Customized Harmonicas My Website
If you look at some of the math, and I realize harp players are generally cheap...
I know exactly what it takes to make a high-end Corian comb...I've seen the process. It takes a person about an hour to do what Hetrick was doing to those combs, and although others may do it faster, the end results were not the exact same.
So...
Let's say the end product costs $25 and the Corian for that project cost $5 - remember that you end up cutting away Corian and have a lot of scrap that is now useless and wasted.
People assume that person uses a CNC machine and in a couple of minutes is done, so the "profit" is $20 on a comb. That is 100% false, but let's pretend it is true. Let's falsely pretend that there is one worker and they just made $20 in profit on a comb.
That person would have to cut and sell 1,500 combs a year to make $30,000 in salary.
Unless you flunked economics, you'd quickly realize that that doesn't include any expenses beyond Corian. It doesn't account for shipping, taxes, packaging materials, equiptment costs and upkeep, lights, rent, power, etc.
So in reality, the "profit" to be made is MUCH MUCH MUCH lower...maybe a few bucks or so a comb.
Ok, so no biggie, you just cut more combs as it is easy to do, right? Wrong! You don't just cut a comb and sell it. For one, someone has to want to buy it. Secondly, you don't just sit at a CNC all day. There is a ton of finishing work.
So let's look at an example closer to reality...
It takes one hour to make a Corian comb - that includes cutting it, flat sanding it, polishing it, etc. That has to be done almost entirely by hand and by a human being. That means you can make 10 combs in a 10 hour day. We know the profit on that is NOT anywhere near $20, but let's just pretend it is.
Let's pretend you work 10hrs a day EVERY day for a full year making $20 off a comb. That would be $73,000 a year. That sounds like pretty good money, but that means working 10hrs EVERY day in addition to...SELLING all 3,650 combs.
The reality of it is, there profit margain for a comb is NOT anywhere NEAR $20 a comb and someone can make $73,000 or more doing lots of other professional jobs with way more perks.
