congaron
716 posts
Mar 20, 2010
10:12 AM
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Hey Jon. You've had yours awhile now. How does playing it affect your skills or feel on the harps you already had? Is it hard to switch back and forth? Just curious, after watching your review video. Clearly there is a huge difference in playability. How's it going for you that way?
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jonsparrow
2600 posts
Mar 20, 2010
10:29 AM
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to tell the truth i dont play it much. im a marine band guy an i think i allways will be. i like the way the marine band feels in my mouth better. but its not hard at all to switch back an forth. the b-radical plays so well that you dont really have to get used to it. the only thing i have to remember to do is to force it a little more into my mouth cause of the way the cover plates are shaped other ways my lips will get to close an thin the tone out. also going from hole to hole feels a bit different. like the spacing might be slightly different then the marine band.
i think my marine bands are more responsive but they have hours of work into them an have a brassier sound due to embossing. the b-radical is slightly less responsive but with a full nice tone. an i like playing it sometimes cause its by far louder an the bends an overblows are so on point.
i also dont play it much cause i know all never have a full set. to me its more like a collectors edition harp. like the les paul of harps. i like having it but i want to preserve its awesomeness.
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congaron
717 posts
Mar 20, 2010
11:03 AM
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Interesting. I was wondering more about how going from the b-rad to a marine band would be after playing the b-rad for say an hour, but if yours are so highly tweaked, I suppose that's minimal too.
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jonsparrow
2601 posts
Mar 20, 2010
12:05 PM
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even after an hour of playing the b-rad theres no problem switching harps. as long as your used to the harp there should be no problem. just run a few scales an stuff to feel how the harp is an you should be fine no matter what harp your playing as long as its something your used to.
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pharpo
219 posts
Mar 20, 2010
12:31 PM
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I have seen the "is it hard switching back and forth" in previous threads.. and am a little puzzled. I have a set of 13 harps that go with me to jams and gigs. Two custom "Dudeharp" MB's in A & G....and the rest are LO's / BluesHarps / and MB's that I have worked on myself. When I am playing , I don't ever really notice a big difference. The only thing I DO notice is weather it's a plastic or wood comb....but that really does not make any difference...just feels a little different. My C is an old LO that I am replacing. I ordered a Crossover from Rockin Rons. It should be here Monday.
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Music is your own experience, your own thoughts, your wisdom. If you don't live it, it won't come out of your horn. They teach you there's a boundary line to music. But, man, there's no boundary line to art. - Charlie Parker
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congaron
723 posts
Mar 20, 2010
12:44 PM
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I was referring to the amount of air, since it could be a dramatic difference if the advertising is accurate. I also have a full set of mismatched harps and switch between them all the time, but none of them are a b-radical. Also, when you set them up yourself, they SHOULD all play about the same.
There is a dramatic difference in the amount air required between an out of the box harpmaster and a marine band..especially if you get a bad one. The amount of air needed to play a marine band will choke an out of the box harpmaster if you just got your first one and aren't aware of it...unless you are BBQBOB. Even my re-gapped marine bands take more air than my re-gapped suzukis. I am used to it..just wondered how hard it would be to adjust to the new super-improved out of the box harp, that's all.
Puzzled? Why, everybody is different.
Last Edited by on Mar 20, 2010 1:22 PM
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ZackPomerleau
823 posts
Mar 20, 2010
7:13 PM
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The switching back thing is a myth, I THINK. If you're used to playing only one way, then obviously you'll have an issue.
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nacoran
1471 posts
Mar 20, 2010
9:02 PM
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I agree. I can even switch to a Hohner Puck pretty easily. The biggest problem I have switching harps is probably I forget sometimes how much a couple of my harps rough up my lips. I start playing and don't realize how much I'm chewing up my lips until afterwards.
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Nate
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KeithE
104 posts
Mar 21, 2010
9:49 PM
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Someone posted a link to this Chicago Tribune article on harp-l:
Making harmonicas of note in Rockford
Man it sounds like an extremely painful birthing process - e.g. "So far, Harrison's B-Radicals have been rolling off the six-man assembly line at a frustratingly slow pace; sometimes just one or two harmonicas are produced in a day."
I wish them the best of luck ramping up production.
Don't miss the video.
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Ryan
248 posts
Mar 21, 2010
10:45 PM
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The article says they've only produced about 33 harps so far. If they're only producing a few harps a day, they can hardly be called mass produced. At the moment they seem to be being produced at somewhere around the same rate as custom harps, which I suppose is fine as long as the quality lives up to that of a custom harp. But part of the great thing about these harps was that they were supposed to be "mass produced" so that we could recieve them right after ordering(no extended waiting period).
Looking at where they're at now, it's hard to see how they'll be able to "ramp up production" to the point where you won't have a waiting period before recieving a B-radical(or at least I don't see how it will be possible in the near future). They can work out the production kinks and the machinery problems, and that will help, but I don't think it'll mean they will suddenly be able to ramp up harp production to the point where you can order one without having a waiting period(assuming they keep the same high quality standards). I think it will be quite awhile before they're able to make that kind of "mass production" possible. I certianly hope I'm wrong though, these harps look and sound great and I'd love to be able to order one and have it arrive a few days later.
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nacoran
1482 posts
Mar 21, 2010
11:02 PM
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It's an interesting article, but that's some sloppy reporting. Asking Jason for a review without commenting on his relationship to the company isn't really good reporting, even if lots of us out here trust his opinion.
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Nate
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apskarp
139 posts
Mar 21, 2010
11:57 PM
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Yes, It would be interesting to hear what other harmonica virtuoso's that aren't in the company are saying about these harps.
I think the most important feature of B-rad would be that you'd get a near custom-quality harp without months of delays. Even if it wouldn't be exactly as good as custom, many of us would be willing to pay the bucks to shorten the waiting time from 8 months to 1 week or so (or perhaps just pick it up from the local music store).
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harpwrench
197 posts
Mar 22, 2010
4:23 AM
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Do you want em fast, or do you want em in tune?
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ness
163 posts
Mar 22, 2010
5:57 AM
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Good point, Joe.
Always with the negative waves here. Nothing's easy at first, at least nothing good.
I suspect that Brad's first priority is to keep the quality very high, and fulfill orders second. The very worst thing he could do is ship crap. I'd venture a guess that in the master plan is way to speed things up.
Agreed -- that is some shoddy reporting, but that's nothing unusual. I loved the 'easy to master' statement.
Last Edited by on Mar 22, 2010 5:59 AM
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Ryan
250 posts
Mar 22, 2010
5:53 PM
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I don't think I said anything negative. Of course I would rather wait and have the harp play/sound great(which I already said), especially when they cost as much as a cutom harp. All I was saying was that one of the original selling points of these harps was that they would be able to produce them much faster than custom harps, and you wouldn't need to wait months before recieving an order. But from what they said in the article, it's hard to imagine that they will be able to make that possible anytime soon without sacrificing quality.
I think it turned out that each harp required a lot more individual attention than they had anticipated, in order to make them play like a customised harp. I would gues that there just some things about a custom harp that simply can't be mechanised, and need work from a skilled technician. It seems that these are turning out to just be another form of customised harp, which isn't a problem for me. Like I said, if I'm going to pay $180, I would rather wait for a harp that played perfectly than get a mass produced harp that played sub par. I was just excited about the possibility of being able to get a high quality harp without the long waiting periods. Hopefully I'm wrong and they will be able to ramp up production to that point.
Like I said, I don't think I'm criticising them, I'm just pointing out that their original claim of being able to mass produce such a high quality harp, doesn't seem like it'll become a reality in the near future. The first harps shipped out over a month ago and the article says they've only produced around 33 harps so far, but they say they expect to produce around 5000 within the year. That just seems to be overly optimistic to me, but I hope I'm wrong.
Last Edited by on Mar 22, 2010 6:06 PM
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ness
164 posts
Mar 22, 2010
7:35 PM
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Who knows when the 33 harps were completed? Today? A month ago?
I wouldn't say they haven't delivered on the idea of a high-quality, mass produced harp just yet. The line has only been up and running for a few months, right? It's a fledgling company, and I suspect they're working the kinks out. That may take a while.
I think we're both basically on the same page, (we want to seem this succeed), I'm just a little more optimistic, and maybe more patient too!
John
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Ryan
251 posts
Mar 22, 2010
7:59 PM
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Well the article came out yesterday, but I suppose it's posible they did the interview a month ago and didn't publish the article until just now. Although it said they've only been producing a few harps a day, sometimes only 1 or 2 a day. So based on that, and the fact that I know of several people who have ordered harps and only a few have recieved one, I would guess that the interview was done quite recently. If the interview was old and they'd managed to increase production in the mean time, I imagine we'd be hearing a lot more reviews from people that have recieved harps.
I didn't say they wouldn't succeed in making these harps mass produced, I just think that it's unlikely that it'll happen soon. I understand there are kinks to be worked out, and that will speed things up, but it's hard to imagine that they're all of a sudden going to be able to drastically ramp up the production rates in such a short period of time. I really want them to be succesful, but I think it's going to be quite awhile until they can mass produce and keep up with the demand.
When ever people on this board criticised them for the delays, I was quick to defend them. I still believe it worth the wait to get a high quality harp. I'd much rather wait than recieve a harp that didn't live up to expectation. So I wouldn't have a problem if they couldn't mass produce these harps like originally intended. I just wonder if it's reasonable to think that they're going to be mass producing these harps in the near future.
EDIT: I understand that they're a fledgling company and these things take time to work out. But that's actually kind of my point. Is it reasonable for this fledgling company to assume that they can go from where they're at now (producing a few harps a day) to producing 5000 harps within the year? I think it'll take more time.
BTW, I also agree that the worst thing they could do is lower the quality standards, even if it meant they could speed up production. For $180 people expect these to be some pretty d@mn good harps.
Last Edited by on Mar 22, 2010 8:41 PM
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Randy G. Blues
173 posts
Mar 23, 2010
11:09 AM
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The production speed (or lack thereof) creates some questions. I would have thought that the modular design for reed replacement would make production a lot faster than it has been according to the reports above. I would now assume that reed replacement is not just a matter of screwing in a new reed but will require some tuning and adjustment. The website still shows no internal pics of the B-Radical, and their main homepage still states "New Website Coming Soon."
Five keys are currently available for pre-order for delivery in July, but their history would make one leery of the accuracy of the date. And it's $80 deposit per harp for pre-ordering..
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Joch230
39 posts
Mar 23, 2010
11:25 AM
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You would think they would want to have a bunch of them ready to sell at the August SPAH show.
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Philosofy
346 posts
Mar 29, 2010
12:10 PM
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I hope they sterilize the harps they play!
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