ncpacemaker
255 posts
Jan 28, 2011
3:35 PM
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Two things I don't get. (1)Why would Hohner put there name on something like the Piedmont Blues harp ? I mean they're sold in cheap sets at serious music stores, not the kiddie isle at the Dollar Store. & (2) why are these harps so bad and nearly unplayable ? To the untrained eye they seem very similar to higher cost harps. Plastic comb, metal reeds and reed plates, screws, covers, everything. What makes them so leaky sounding and crappy, and can they be made better with modifications ?
Thanks
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zipperhead16
21 posts
Jan 28, 2011
3:58 PM
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Imo Hohner is trying to copyright the blues, build it in China and sell it to us at a huge profit. I think the Blues band ,Hot Metal and the like play just well enough to get you to buy something better(more $).
Took my kids B band apart to see what was inside, Comb looks identical to my special 20's. Screws are smaller and reed plates are thinner. A friend bought a set of La Doucha harps from sportsmans guide and they were bluesbands with different covers,probably made in the same factory in China.
Looking in a catalog at the local music store recently and in the harmonica section was the b band with the statement that it was Hohners #1 selling model. Why? Because it's cheap at $8 retail. $5 wholesale and cost .99 to make = big money.That's why they put the name on it.Pride and craftsmanship have been replaced with profit for the stockholders. That's necessary to stay in business and keep them on top.
As for if they can be made to play well, I never tried. Having too much fun making MB's play well.My .02 from my pea brain.
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colman
21 posts
Jan 28, 2011
4:16 PM
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guitars are made from dirt cheap to thousands of dollars per instrument.so harps can too.think of that saying ,it`s not the instrument it`s the player.
i`m shure some old blues cats in the delta would buy cheap ass harps and kicked butt on them a few times before they died.....
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nacoran
3747 posts
Jan 28, 2011
4:40 PM
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Piedmonts taste terrible, and they are kind of muffled because of the closed backs and plastic covers and leakiness, but they come with a okay case and actually, they are reasonably playable for just practicing (in fact, if you are practicing while you wait in a doctors office or somewhere else where you shouldn't be being loud, you can get them to sound REALLY quietly compared to any other harp, quiet enough so the guy sitting next to you won't hear it, but actually sounding, not just blowing into the holes.
If you are starting out and can only afford one 'good' harp and a box of Piedmonts it can help you start training your ear on different keys and they are the easiest harp on the lips that I've ever played, (in fact, I have a SP20 that I put Piedmont covers on particularly for practicing. And when you replace them you still have a case left for you're new harps.
As for them being leaky, well, yeah, but as you play them, if you let the insides get gunked up that will seal some of the leaks. When you are ready to start practicing embossing they are cheap enough to start on. If you snap a reed, so what? They are half the price of a a Blues Band!
Now, I bought a tremolo once, because, well, I wanted to see the insides of a tremolo. I bought it at an ice cream shop for $5. When I buy a Piedmont or a Blues Band or a Pocket Pal for $4-6, well, it's you get what you pay for. When you buy a $5 tremolo at an ice cream parlor, well, wow. There aren't words. I suppose I went into it realizing I was buying it just to see how reeds were laid out inside a tremolo, but I would have gotten a better deal giving the village idiot two cents for their thoughts on the insides of a harmonica. I would have been better off giving the village idiot $20.
Never buy a Melisa & Doug harmonica.
Of course, I suspect, after buying a $5 tremolo in an ice cream shop I know exactly where my towns village idiot is. At least the ice cream was good. (And actually, they've replaced the M&D harps with better quality ones.)
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phogi
505 posts
Jan 29, 2011
2:50 AM
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I think the blues band is fine for playing 1st position folk tunes. In fact, that is the harp I used when I started. It worked great until I needed to start bending notes. Also, the blues band kicks the crap out of another cheap brand: Kay. Those things sound like a defeated out of tune accordion. I think the bluesband is a deal for what it is.
The only part I think is bad is the name. You can't play blues too easy on a blues band.
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PaulM
103 posts
Jan 29, 2011
5:34 AM
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My wife bought me a set of Piedmont Blues for Christmas. They were just good enough to get me hooked. I now use the screws to secure the cover plates on my MBs.
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barbequebob
1513 posts
Jan 29, 2011
7:29 AM
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Remember this: the cheap stuff is made for absolute beginners because they know for a proven FACT that they are really rough on harps and 99% of all beginners are gonna have bad playing technique like usuing far too much breath force for everything. Better for a newbie to blow out a $5.00 crap harp made in China with stiffer, harder brass and wide slot tolerances than something better, which uses softer brass, tighter slot tolerances, and with bad playing technique, they can get blown out even faster than the cheapies, and that's both the cold, hard, brutal truth and the reality of things, like it or not.
This same deal not only applies to harmonicas, but to other instruments as well. Newbies tend to beat the living crap of their instruments (tho often unknowingly).
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Sincerely,
Barbeque Bob Maglinte
Boston, MA
http://www.barbequebob.com
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ncpacemaker
257 posts
Jan 29, 2011
7:37 AM
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I think what I really wanted to know was part 2 of the question. Why are these harps so bad ? What makes them so leaky and hard to bend and can they be made better with modifications. I was hoping the customizers might check in on the subject.
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Joe_L
1025 posts
Jan 29, 2011
10:48 AM
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Bob answered the second question with this sentence:
"Better for a newbie to blow out a $5.00 crap harp made in China with stiffer, harder brass and wide slot tolerances than something better, which uses softer brass, tighter slot tolerances"
I wouldn't waste my time trying to work with those harmonicas. Spend a little more and get a better quality instrument.
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MP
1342 posts
Jan 29, 2011
11:05 AM
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i thought everything seydel made was great. wrong. they have a crappy harp too. it's called the session.
as stated, every company has low end stuff.
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MP
doctor of semiotics and reed replacement.
"making the world a better place, one harmonica at a time"
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groyster1
799 posts
Jan 29, 2011
11:31 AM
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@pacemaker
get a quality harp and play it right dont be rough on it be good to it and it will be good to you-I can say that because my harps last and last-only had 1 sp20 go bad never a LO or golden melody and no suzukis either
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