DirtyDeck
262 posts
Aug 14, 2018
6:45 AM
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Hey guys, long time no speak, hope all is well in the harping community. I haven’t been playing so much this past few years but I’m just about ready to jump back in.
Only problem is most of harps have stuck-up holes and are bent out of shape, I wanna bring in a few customised jobs so that I can really enjoy myself.
I bought a lovely C-harp from Joe Spiers a while back and it plays like butter, only problem being the bastards charged me an extra £40 to get it through customs!
Which brings me to my topic title and my question. Who does the best harps working out of the Uk or Ireland? Europe even? I want to shop around a bit, carefully purchase the first one, and if it’s a goer I’ll eventually take the whole set.
So, hit me up and let me know! Best wishes from Belfast :)
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kham
152 posts
Aug 15, 2018
7:59 PM
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Thomas Hanke is in Leipzig in Germany I belive and is one of the best.
http://www.hankeharmonicas.com
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Crawforde
176 posts
Aug 16, 2018
3:26 AM
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He’s not in the UK
But he is great and is a member here.
Joel Anderson
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SuperBee
5555 posts
Aug 16, 2018
3:52 AM
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Cathal ‘Johnny’ Johnson is in Dundalk.
‘Sugar’ Cain Hamilton was getting a big rep for a while.
Not sure if Henry Slim has given it away. He was in Reading I think.
Ben Boumann does good work if you like Seydel
John Cook certainly knows his way around a harp
‘Best’ is a difficult call though.
Last Edited by SuperBee on Aug 16, 2018 3:56 AM
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groyster1
3232 posts
Aug 16, 2018
9:12 AM
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dannecker
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nacoran
9945 posts
Aug 18, 2018
6:25 PM
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I've heard good things about Ben Bouman. Sugar Cain has people that love him but there seem to be people who don't like him too.
We've got a list of harmonica customizers, although it's not very up to date and it's not sorted by country.
Boris is in Russia, which I think would have the same problems since it's not in the EU. I think the following are EU... (based on the languages on the site)
Ben Bouman (he has a newer site, you can google it), BlueX, Brodur, Danneker, Dortel, Ergo, JA Harmonicas, Plunz, Sugar Cain
http://www.modernbluesharmonica.com/board/board_topic/5560960/599452.htm?page=2
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Nate
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First Post- May 8, 2009
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Kingley
4102 posts
Aug 19, 2018
4:08 AM
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I'm sure there are many customisers here in the UK and Europe, although I don't personally know of any. My train of thought would be that if I were going to buy custom harps, then Joe Spiers is one of the most highly regarded harp techs in the world. I'd prefer to pay a little more and know I'm getting a great harp from him than pay a little less and possibly get less.
Other than that my only advice would be to do what I do. Buy harps, then gap and tune them yourself. That way you can set them up precisely how you want them.
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AppalachiaBlues
210 posts
Aug 19, 2018
1:26 PM
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Ben Bouman does a great job with Seydel harps. Dortel does really nice work with a range of custom wood covers and combs. Their website just announced a new shipment of wood for September. Both are in the EU, so (for the time being) there are no customs duties for UK buyers.
Last Edited by AppalachiaBlues on Aug 19, 2018 1:26 PM
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florida-trader
1339 posts
Aug 20, 2018
12:32 PM
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I have swapped a lot of emails with Sugar Cain Hamilton in the UK. He's a good guy. He has a larger than life personality that is a bit quirky but I'll say one thing - he is a hard working man. That is a quality that I find very admirable. I respect that. I can tell you from personal experience that after you build 1,000 - 2,000 harps, you get pretty good at it. Cain definitely fits that category. He knows his way around a reed plate.
This is not intended to slight of any of the other UK based customizers listed. I'm just offering my personal endorsement of Cain.
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Tom Halchak
Blue Moon Harmonicas
Last Edited by florida-trader on Aug 20, 2018 12:33 PM
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nacoran
9948 posts
Aug 20, 2018
12:51 PM
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Yeah, Tom... I've never done business with Sugar but he's always seemed like a good guy when I've talked to him on FB. He was having a row with someone (or rather someone was attacking him for some perceived slight on one of the FB forums.) I'm not sure I always buy all his salesmanship claims about tone grooves and such, but the vast majority of people I've heard from love his harps, so either I'm wrong about the tone grooves or he is doing a lot of the other things he has to do to make good harps.
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Nate
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First Post- May 8, 2009
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florida-trader
1340 posts
Aug 20, 2018
2:00 PM
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Nate - I don't want to get into defending Cain. I know that he has been the subject of some attacks. Some of these attacks are what prompted me to reach out to him. I don't remember all the details, but my gut tells me if I thought he was in the wrong, I would have steered clear. I think your recollection of a "perceived slight" is correct. I think there may have been another controvery created by a would-be competitior. When you are in the public eye, you often become a target. And Cain, with all the videos he makes, is certainly in the public eye. That said, I have no doubt that he makes a quality product and would stand behind them 100%. The last one of his harps I tried was several years ago. It was good then and there is little doubt that 3 or 4 years and several hundreds of harps later, they are even better.
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Tom Halchak
Blue Moon Harmonicas
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