|
Dirty-South Blues Harp forum: wail on! >
$37.99
$37.99
Page:
1
2
MP
2024 posts
Feb 21, 2012
4:53 PM
|
howzit capnj and groyster!
i am raising my prices too...unfortunately. from $10 to $15 come april 1st but will accept all $10 repairs till that date.
i try to keep prices down but can't help this one. lotta labor. tuning takes a lot of time. if i just plopped a reed in a sent it on it's way life would be easier. man hours...
cheers, mark
----------
MP
doctor of semiotics and reed replacement.
"making the world a better place, one harmonica at a time"
|
Frank
292 posts
Feb 21, 2012
10:36 AM
|
We all are faced with the fact that if we don't learn how to repair our own harps,it's not going to be a pretty picture monetarily.
No matter 20 years ago or 20 years from now regardless of price differences, it's the smart and frugal thing to do, learning harp repair.
I don't relate to the folks whose harps never need a reed changed. Sure my technique and breathing habits have advanced and they break a lot less often -but still enough that knowing how to do repairs is a pertinent skill.
In the beginning if I looked at a harp wrong a fuckin reed broke and I realized right quick learning how to fix my own harps was the wise thing to do.
What I've learned over the years is that most players don't wanna go that route for what ever reason-even though it is a rather rudimentary attainable skill and if so desired you can increase your expertise in it continually...
|
groyster1
1774 posts
Feb 21, 2012
10:58 AM
|
@mark
dont apologize as hondo said(john wayne) a man oughta do what he thinks best and a persons time is precious,very precious tomorrow is no promise-do what you gotta do......peace and joy
|
barbequebob
1813 posts
Feb 22, 2012
8:21 AM
|
I have to agree that the Hohner stock has vastly improved since the 80's. During the mid 90's, I had a long phone conversation with now retired product manager Rick Epping and part of their quality slide was due to the fact that their most profitable instrument was NOT harmonicas but a keyboard instrument known as the Klavinet, made famous by chromatic harpman Stevie Wonder.
Many of the materials definitely are different. The brass being used alone has changed many times over the years and the famous bell metal brass revered by many of us who have ever played pre-WWII Hohners haven't been made since then and for years their choices became more and more limited because many of them used to be made in very small factories that have long since closed and harmonica makers even as large as Hohner doesn't use enough brass to warrant most brass manufacturers to get into production because it would be enough to make it profitable for them to do so, much like the way crystal are for microphones.
Since the beginning of this century, Hohner coverplates are made of stainless steel and prior to that, they were mainly nickel plated hardened steel (and that does darken the tone more than stainless steel does), plus on the MB, they use less metal than they did prior to WWII, which allowed the covers to be much more wide open than they presently are (and that alone gave them much more volume, especially when compared to the stuff they put out from the 80's to mid 90's.
One also has to take into account other costs in the picture, including increased labor costs (which is why the MB is now assembled in China, rather than in Germany), transportation, fuel costs, utility costs, all of which are not getting any cheaper, plus many different currencies have devaluated in recent years, which exacerbates things on top of that, all of which ar cold, hard realities that bite like hell, like it or not.
----------
Sincerely,
Barbeque Bob Maglinte
Boston, MA
http://www.barbequebob.com
CD available at http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/bbmaglinte
|
tookatooka
2731 posts
Feb 22, 2012
9:41 AM
|
@BBQbob said "Hohner coverplates are made of stainless steel". Is that correct BBQbob? I can't understand why it is that some of my Special 20's are showing a yellowish metal where the plating has worn down. They are not old stock either. Any thoughts on that please?
----------
|
MrVerylongusername
2246 posts
Feb 22, 2012
2:26 AM
|
@BBQBob
"(which is why the MB is now assembled in China, rather than in Germany)"
That bit of news slipped under my radar! Talk about bombshell!
Assembled? so do they manufacture the parts in Germany and ship them to China for assembly. Where is the tuning, quality control done?
What about other Hohner handmade models?
More info please if you have it.
|
GMaj7
21 posts
Feb 22, 2012
11:41 AM
|
The announced Hohner price increase is a great marketing tool to get consumers (Us) to make purchases we might not otherwise make. In other words, dealers and buyers at the retail level rush out and buy before the prices go up as a last chance deal before the increase. The truth is, there will be 1,000s of harps on the shelves at the lower price available for a long time. Good business move by Hohner, though.
----------
Greg Jones
16:23 Custom Harmonicas
greg@1623customharmonicas.com
1623customharmonicas.com
|
barbequebob
1814 posts
Feb 23, 2012
1:56 AM
|
This isn't the first time Hohner has done that. In the 90's, they had a budget 64 chromatic called the Silver Shadow 64 that had parts made in both China as well as Germany, but with the assembly being done in China, mainly to compete with Hering in terms of price.
The tuning is still being done in Germany.
Tooka, you may have older stock of Sp20's if you see that and many retail stores may have as much as 10 years worth of back stock, especially in a smaller retail environment, as many stores during the 90's didn't get any of the retooled stuff that mwas made in 1995/96 until around 2001 and wait for what they have left in their inventory is done before reordering and this is especially true on small brick and mortar stores, wheras online stores are more likely to have fresher stock. Some of the yellowing can be caused by your body chemistry tho.
----------
Sincerely,
Barbeque Bob Maglinte
Boston, MA
http://www.barbequebob.com
CD available at http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/bbmaglinte
|
tookatooka
2736 posts
Feb 23, 2012
4:28 AM
|
@BBQbob. I only ever buy online and never bricks and mortar. May be old stock I guess. Don't suppose the box labels or bar codes give give much of a clue?
Must be my body chemistry then, I must be spitting H2SO4 (Sulphuric Acid)
----------
|
MP
2027 posts
Feb 23, 2012
1:42 PM
|
ahhh,
in 1972 i wanted to play blues so naturally,i bought a blues harp. $3.64 after tax and this is in hawaii where we
are separated from CA by 2200 miles of ocean. that'll add a bit to the price.
i was making $4.10 an hour which was incredible for most people, especially a 16 year old.
37.99? i think we're gettin' off cheap. harmonicas are AWESOME!!! think of how much joy the damn thing brings you. now, put a price on it. :)
----------
MP
doctor of semiotics and reed replacement.
"making the world a better place, one harmonica at a time"
|
barbequebob
1816 posts
Feb 23, 2012
11:47 PM
|
Tooka, it could be old stock, but if it isn't, it's more likely for body ph and the distinct possibility of possibly scraping off some of the covering with your teeth unkowningly, and if someone is new to tongue blocking, that wouldn't be surprising at all.
$37.99 is damned cheap compared to buying even a budget Martin acoustic guitar, and even those start at around $1,000 a pop, so harp players, stop bitching so damned much. Hell, even a cheap sax costs a lot more than that, so get a grip.
----------
Sincerely,
Barbeque Bob Maglinte
Boston, MA
http://www.barbequebob.com
CD available at http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/bbmaglinte
|
Post a Message
|
