Tonyblues
81 posts
Jun 22, 2021
9:09 AM
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At a gig, a guy asked me if his harp is worth anything. It is a Hohner Blues harp in Eb signed by Kim Wilson with a sharpie. The harp has never been used & is in brand new condition in the case. I cannot figure out the picture process here, that is why no pic. Thanks
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Kingley
4178 posts
Jun 30, 2021
9:09 AM
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The answer to your question is it's worth wherever the person buying it wants to pay for it. Having Kim Wilson's signature on it, doesn't really change its value. It merely makes it a possible item of interest to someone who collects things related to harmonica or to Kim Wilson. So it's only real value is in the same vein as the Sonny Terry personal harps that were being sold off a few years back. Basically all the guy could do is name a price he wants and see if anyone bites. Hopefully that makes sense.
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florida-trader
1545 posts
Jun 30, 2021
10:30 AM
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I am not an expert on autographed memorabilia - harmonicas or otherwise. But, since Kim Wilson is still alive, and can crank out autographed harmonicas by the truckload if he so desired, I don't think the Eb Blues Harp is worth all that much. Just my two cents.
The Sonny Terry Estate Harps, which are still available at www.sonnyterry.net, are a different story. Sonny's career spanned more than 50 years, he recorded over 100 albums and is easily one of the most infuential harmonica players that ever lived. Plus, he passed away about 35 years ago, so there is no endless supply of estate harmonicas. With respect to Kim Wilson, he too might be considered one of the most influential harmonica players in history but he has a ways to go to catch up with Sonny and he is still with us. Just sayin'.
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Tom Halchak
Blue Moon Harmonicas
Last Edited by florida-trader on Jul 01, 2021 6:21 AM
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99
97 posts
Jul 01, 2021
4:21 PM
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I have posters, pictures, and harmonica cases signed by some of the greats to include James Cotton, Pat Ramsey, Rod Piazza, Mark Hummel, Jason Ricci, Dennis Greuling, Buddy Green and, Paul Oscher to name a few. Are they worth anything? Probably not. But to me they are priceless. Why? Because it's the back story that makes all the difference to me. --99
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florida-trader
1546 posts
Jul 02, 2021
6:12 AM
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99 - must be a nice looking Man Cave.
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Tom Halchak
Blue Moon Harmonicas
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Tonyblues
83 posts
Jul 02, 2021
9:51 AM
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Thanks for all the awesome feed back guys!
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Prento
78 posts
Jul 03, 2021
1:43 AM
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Probably not worth anything so send it to me for responsible disposal
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SuperBee
6988 posts
Jul 09, 2021
3:02 AM
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I have a harp which is signed by Jerry Portnoy. It’s a crossover in key of A, and it’s definitely used. To me this is strangely valuable, more than a new harp or a new autographed harp. There’s no way to establish it was played by Jerry, especially if I wanted to move it on, but I know how it came to me so I fully believe it’s genuine. I have an email which lends some weight to my claim but it’s not highly descriptive. I could be faking the signature and selling off my old harps. Doesn’t matter to me because it’s worth something beyond money to me. My estate might like to get some pennies from it I guess but there would not be many even if the provenance could be established. $100? Maybe. Maybe more to someone who is as much of a fan as I am. I haven’t tested it to see if it plays but I assume it has a flat or defective reed.
Anyway, to me it’s a treasure. To someone else, (Eg, Jerry, everyone I see on a daily basis) maybe trash.
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tmf714
3220 posts
Jul 12, 2021
10:38 AM
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I actually own 2 of Kims harps-I know they are his because Joe Filisko signed it and it also has KW engraved into the reed plates.
Both key of A. When the time comes I will contact Joe to obtain a fair market price.
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Millman500
27 posts
Jul 14, 2021
5:31 AM
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So cool tmf714!
Tell us more how you landed them! How are they tuned, are there a lot of tuning marks, are the covers open or closed, etc etc.
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tmf714
3221 posts
Jul 14, 2021
2:36 PM
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I bought them from the tour manager for the Fabulous Thunderbirds.
I was fortunate enough to win the Ebay auction for these and a few other items from Kim.
They have open backs,Marine Bands of course,stock pearwood combs dated 1995 so could be 7-limit just-I will check. They play like butter and all I did was a thourough cleaning. Totally lucked out.
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SuperBee
6990 posts
Jul 17, 2021
5:52 PM
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Wow, that is a double double whammy. I would be stoked to have a Filisko OR a Wilson harp, but to have the combo x 2, that is up there.
My Portnoy harp is just a stock crossover but it came to me via Dennis Gruenling so it’s kind of a double mojo thing for me. As a harp builder though, a Filisko harp would be a very cool thing to have
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Thievin' Heathen
1236 posts
Jul 24, 2021
2:59 PM
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Back to Tom's entry, the fact that Sonny Terry's harps were not snatched up by collectors in the 1st 2 hours and are still available 2 or 3 years later speaks volumes about the wisdom of investing in collectible harmonicas. They are really only valuable to the owner.
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SuperBee
6996 posts
Jul 25, 2021
4:38 AM
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For me, those left by the time I got to the party were simply too expensive. I’d love to have a ST harp, and I seriously considered it. The tipping point was the shipping fee. I just could not do it. Psychological I think. I often have a problem with shipping charges.
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