There's an apocryphal story of a fan offering James Cotton $400 for his Hohner Marine Band after a show. Cotton told the man that he could buy a new one for $8 at any music store. The fan insisted, saying that Cotton had obviously modified the harp to make it sound the way that it did. So, is it the harp or is it the person playing the harp?
Sound Quality - Conventional wisdom says that wood combed harps have a warmer, crunchier tone than plastic combed harps and that harps with metal combs have a brighter, if more antiseptic tone than both. Harmonica maven Pat Missin convincingly dispels these myths in an article (http://www.patmissin.com/ffaq/q6.html) posted on his uniquely informative website. Missin provides data from tests conducted by The Society for the Preservation and Advancement of Harmonicas as well as his own scientific study. He then takes it a step further with audio files of the same note being played on a Hohner Marine Band (wood), a Lee Oskar (plastic) and Suzuki ProMaster (metal) so you can decide for yourself.
Missin contends that, unlike an acoustic guitar, whose body (soundbox) construction has a substantial effect on it's tone, the comb material of a harmonica acts almost solely as a support for the reeds. The soundbox of a harp is the hands, mouth, throat and lungs of the player. Tonal quality is also greatly affected by the shape of the air passages, reed construction, shape of the covers and tuning. I highly recommend that you read Missin's article, as well as everything else on his website. I've tried to distill it down to the most basic and necessary elements but in no way did I do it justice. My conclusion is that I could take a $150 custom Marine Band and make it sound like a cheap child's toy. James Cotton could take a child's toy and make it sing a sonic representation of the combined works of Shakespeare.
Durability - This category initially concerned me more than the others. I've read dozens of product reviews that went something like, "Just got a shipment of Lee Oskar harps in every key known to man and blew out the 2 draw in all of them over a three day weekend". Are harps really this fragile? Um, no. The guys that write variations of this review represent an archetype that infests every niche of American hobbyism. I call him "Hard On His Gear Guy". He communicates using an obliquely confrontational verbal form of macho posturing that says "Don't know about you, but I'm a bad ass".
Sound Quality - Conventional wisdom says that wood combed harps have a warmer, crunchier tone than plastic combed harps and that harps with metal combs have a brighter, if more antiseptic tone than both. Harmonica maven Pat Missin convincingly dispels these myths in an article (http://www.patmissin.com/ffaq/q6.html) posted on his uniquely informative website. Missin provides data from tests conducted by The Society for the Preservation and Advancement of Harmonicas as well as his own scientific study. He then takes it a step further with audio files of the same note being played on a Hohner Marine Band (wood), a Lee Oskar (plastic) and Suzuki ProMaster (metal) so you can decide for yourself.
Missin contends that, unlike an acoustic guitar, whose body (soundbox) construction has a substantial effect on it's tone, the comb material of a harmonica acts almost solely as a support for the reeds. The soundbox of a harp is the hands, mouth, throat and lungs of the player. Tonal quality is also greatly affected by the shape of the air passages, reed construction, shape of the covers and tuning. I highly recommend that you read Missin's article, as well as everything else on his website. I've tried to distill it down to the most basic and necessary elements but in no way did I do it justice. My conclusion is that I could take a $150 custom Marine Band and make it sound like a cheap child's toy. James Cotton could take a child's toy and make it sing a sonic representation of the combined works of Shakespeare.
Durability - This category initially concerned me more than the others. I've read dozens of product reviews that went something like, "Just got a shipment of Lee Oskar harps in every key known to man and blew out the 2 draw in all of them over a three day weekend". Are harps really this fragile? Um, no. The guys that write variations of this review represent an archetype that infests every niche of American hobbyism. I call him "Hard On His Gear Guy". He communicates using an obliquely confrontational verbal form of macho posturing that says "Don't know about you, but I'm a bad ass".
I've personally met the surfing, mountain biking, rafting and golfing incarnations of this guy who, in the harp universe we'll refer to as "Hard on His Harps Guy" or HOHHG. I see this guy's posts as evidence of some sort of psychological malady and not as proper consumer reviews. This isn't meant to imply that some of the reports of prematurely blown reeds aren't the result of poor manufacturing.
Here's a good rule of thumb when reading product reviews of any sort. Throw out the extreme high ("I've gigged with the same Big River since 1952") and extreme low (HOHHG) and concentrate on the median. A good product's satisfaction median will skew more positive. The degree to which this is the case should give you a fairly accurate reflection of the actual quality of the product.
Here's a good rule of thumb when reading product reviews of any sort. Throw out the extreme high ("I've gigged with the same Big River since 1952") and extreme low (HOHHG) and concentrate on the median. A good product's satisfaction median will skew more positive. The degree to which this is the case should give you a fairly accurate reflection of the actual quality of the product.
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2 comments:
Thanks for the kind words about my site.
I wouldn't be too quick to write off that James Cotton story as apocryphal. Many years ago, I was persuaded to play something in a pub in Northern England by a loudmouthed drunk who had been boasting about what a great harmonica player he was. After I played some blues he stopped boasting and starting trying to buy my harp from me, convinced there was something special about it. This was before I really got into working on my own harps, so this was basically a stock Special 20 that you could buy at any music store for less than £10 back then. I think his final offer was £200, which was worth about US$300 at the time. I just couldn't bring myself to take his money off him. Sometimes I guess I am too honest for my own good...
Pretty much the same thing has happened to a couple of friends of mine and I think Charlie McCoy has told a similar story.
I'd forgotten about this post. First of all, congratulations on being one of only 21 living souls who understand the meaning of apocryphal. Now if I could just find someone who knows that "term" and "phrase" aren't interchangable. But, a year or so after writing that I know that you're 100% correct. (I'm not going to change it though, I like the way the sentence flows). I've spoken to people, and not well known pros, who have received similar offers. It probably happened to Cotton all the time. I'm really humbled by the fact that you not only read my blog but took the time to comment. Adam Gussow gave me a tip on how to play Whammer Jammer and now Pat Missin drops me a note. I sincerely appreciate it.
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