MP
732 posts
Jul 19, 2010
1:29 PM
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well, here's one reason.
just successfully flattened draw reed plate by wet sanding with 400 grit. very time consuming.
i'm new at this but i understand spiers and buddha remove all the reeds from the top coverplate and magically flatten it.
then they obviously have to replace all those reeds and we're just gettin' started here.----------
MP
hibachi cook for the yakuza
doctor of semiotics
superhero emeritus
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KingoBad
303 posts
Jul 19, 2010
1:38 PM
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As I have said before, there is absolutely no way these guys get paid well for what they do. The have to do it for the love of doing it or the love of the instrument and what the market will actually pay for such a thing.
Unless there is some magic and elves involved(or a much better process such as some fantastic trade secret) there is WAY too much time into a custom harp to be worth any hourly wage that you could attach to it.
I'm glad they do it, and they SHOULD be expensive.
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Greg Heumann
675 posts
Jul 19, 2010
9:52 PM
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Hours of labor, plain and simple. I don't customize harps, but my biz is no different. If I actually charged what my labor was worth I couldn't sell my products at all. Machinists with my skill level (which is only average) make over $100 an hour. I value my labor at $35 an hour to try to keep prices down. I haven't changed that since I started my business. That's cheaper than any skilled instrument repair person is worth. Then there's the marketing guy, the engineer, the sales guy, the inventory manager, the purchasing specialist, the web designer, the photographer, the customer support rep, the shipping clerk - they all have to be paid too. And they're all me.
You always have options. You can do it yourself. You'll find by the time you've gotten to the level of skill these guys (the harp tweakers) have gotten to, you'll be spending as much time and as much on tools and equipment as they have invested.
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/Greg
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DeakHarp
107 posts
Jul 20, 2010
9:51 AM
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Plus there are so many steps in each harp Drilling, sanding ,rounding corners ,tuning ,and not to mention the burn out syndrome ,,, after doing it fo 10 hours ...bees waxing/ salad bowl finish , and also Buying a new harp at 40 bucks a pop .. price varrys in diffrent models ...then when you get it all back together ... there is tweaking shaping to get the harp to sound good all the way across ...octaves cords ....
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barbequebob
1031 posts
Jul 20, 2010
10:06 AM
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If you want fast and cheap, don't bother with customs, BUT don't even THINK about getting anywhere near the same quality of a custom because there ain't no such thing as true craftsmanship coming off an assembly line with highly underpaid workers in a freaking sweatshop spitting out 1000 harmonicas in an hour.
If factories did the kind of work customizers did, which has so much time consuming HAND labor and more exacting standards, the price you'd pay would be equal or greater, plus delivery time would be 80% slower.
Trust me, there is NO comparison. With better playing technique, the upfront cost is offset by the fact that the customizers can do repairs like replacing just a single reed rather than an entire plate, and so wheras the $50 you may spend on a harp like the MB Deluxe isn't gonna last forever and a cheaper on is a throw away, these are LIFETIME instruments and in the long run, a better and less expensive investment.
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Sincerely,
Barbeque Bob Maglinte
Boston, MA
http://www.barbequebob.com
CD available at http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/bbmaglinte
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tookatooka
1551 posts
Jul 20, 2010
10:48 AM
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@BBQbob. 1000 harps per hour times 20 or so manufacturing companies would equal millions over the course of a year which would make it an exceedingly popular instrument and evey home would have one yet apart from the folks on here I don't know anyone that has one.
Where the hell do they all go?
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atty1chgo
36 posts
Jul 20, 2010
11:45 AM
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As an attorney, I understand being underpaid. It is what the market will bear many times. I asked a client who was balking at the hourly rate of $150 (he was a regular client - that is a rate for general legal work in the office - and that is low these days) what he paid his plumber, he told me about $75 to $90 per hour. The client wanted a low fee, and when I showed him that the flat rate he was asking for would end up paying me less per hour than his plumber got to fix a pipe, he came around. The cost must be put into perspective, and if and when it is, it will be a much easier sell. Just my 2 cents.
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walterharp
417 posts
Jul 20, 2010
12:40 PM
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uhmm bbq, are you saying you have actually blown out a reed at one time or another :-) ????
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ness
261 posts
Jul 20, 2010
1:26 PM
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There are some pretty creative & mechanically inclined people doing some of these customizations. I can't help but think they're always thinking of better ways to do things. Unfortunately, we'll probably never hear about them since they're gonna be trade secret-type things.
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John
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MP
737 posts
Jul 20, 2010
1:55 PM
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except for beeswax.
i've done all the work mentioned by DEAKHARP.
i just don't like to be wordy and drive a point into the ground.
my personal harps vary in age (they are fairly old) but i just keep 'em up and running. some even have up to 3 reeds replaced.
i'm just amazed at the work customizers put into a harp. in short, a custom is a bargain.
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MP
hibachi cook for the yakuza
doctor of semiotics
superhero emeritus
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groyster1
248 posts
Jul 20, 2010
2:59 PM
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just sent a 1896-1996 marine band commemorative harp to harvey harp for customizing-this harp has been a CARCASS from day 1 and I am too easy to please hopefully harvey can bring life back to the dead and there has been more legendary harp played on mb than any other harp---this will be my first custom harp
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toddlgreene
1576 posts
Jul 20, 2010
3:03 PM
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@ groyster-you'll like that harp after Harvey goes thru it.
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Crescent City Harmonica Club
Todd L Greene, Co-Founder
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groyster1
249 posts
Jul 20, 2010
3:14 PM
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@toddlgreene
thanks it will be worth the wait Im quite sure
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Delta Dirt
180 posts
Jul 20, 2010
4:34 PM
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As much as i love this instrument. And as long as i have been playing it (35 years) in small clubs..i find myself leaving the Bassman,mics and expensive,broken harps at home more and more and just concentrating on my sax playing. I cant afford custom harps (though i love them) and refuse to continue to buy something that wont last.
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Buddha
2271 posts
Jul 20, 2010
5:19 PM
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delta dirt
on the subject of harps that don't last. If they do not last in your hands then you are abusing them. I have harps from 1997 in my current gig bag and they've never needed to be tuned up.
Of course I have blown my fair share of harps but my harps, my personal harps, last a very long time. In fact, I can not remember the last time I actually purchased a new harp for myself.
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"All is bliss"
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Joch230
248 posts
Jul 20, 2010
5:47 PM
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@ Chris
The custom harps I have on order from you are MarineB's. You said you have the best luck with them. Been noticing though, in most of the video's I see you in, you are playing a Golden Melody? Did you favor those at one time?
-John
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Buddha
2272 posts
Jul 20, 2010
5:50 PM
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I prefer GMs but I think the best harp is the MB.
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"All is bliss"
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eharp
707 posts
Jul 20, 2010
6:06 PM
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$100 an hour, greg?!?!?
really?
do they really deserve to be paid more than teachers, cops, firefighters, er nurses?
no wonder manufacturing jobs go out of the country.
does anybody know of anybody in a developing country that customizes harps? i gotta believe there is somebody in some third world country that can be taught to do this for $50 a harp.
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rharley5652
210 posts
Jul 21, 2010
1:16 AM
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@ Eharp,..
I believe what Greg was sayin is that
A Toolmaker/Skilled Tradesman in any of the Big 3 an some of the Big Tool & Die shops will make 100 bucks an hour total with all their benefits,.
And being a Skilled Tradesman (retired ) yes,. we really do deserve to be paid that money,.Tradesmen go through years of school,.spend our life in factories an most are in dangers every day on the job being around dangerous machines that will rip a human apart in a flash.
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Simply Unique Kustom Mic's By Rharley
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Greg Heumann
682 posts
Jul 21, 2010
8:30 AM
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I didn't mean to suggest anything other than that people who cater to the harp market are generally workin' cheap! Go get a saxophone fixed, or an amp - see how much you pay an hour. Most shops in this area are around$75/hr.
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/Greg
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Delta Dirt
181 posts
Jul 21, 2010
10:29 AM
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@Buddah: of course you dont
im talking about stock harps and no they wernt abused in 1975 and definitely not today unless you call abuse toxic chemicals from my breath into the harp......wait i guess i did abuse back in the day.
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