Slidemeister (Chromatic & related only - no Diatonic discussion) > GENERAL CHROMATIC DISCUSSION

Stock or "customised"/"optimised"

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Jeff H:
I am curious.. there must be hundreds if not thousands of chromatic harps sold annually.  I will assume many are actually played; by novices, skilled amateurs and presumably professionals.  For the sake of this discussion, let;'s call the harmonica in question a Hohner Super 64 ( not an X)... how many harmonicas do you suppose are sent off to customisers/optimisers and and how many are simply played as is.

Is it not possible that many of these harmonicas are good if not excellent playing machines and any modifications might make small or no appreciable difference in playability.
Is not a "professional" Hohner Chromatic good enugh as is to make good music?

I am well aware that some guitars need atttention but others need none ( having owned around 100 I can safely make that statement) and that button accordions ( I have owned over 50 including Hohners and handmade Italian boxes)  can need some attention but others are just fine,, and the price is not reflective in the playability.

So I am curious as to those who have some experience with Hohner Chromatics.. specifically the Super X  that have found them just fine out of the box.. or needing attention.. and if they were modified  how much of a differnce did you notice.

I have owned a few Chromatics including 270's, 280's, CX-12's and Hering Opusses , Opium, Opi ? (2) some customized....  I must tell you I personally found little difference
stock to customized  .. am I simply less discriminate than others or did I simply get decent harmoincas...

Considering the Super X is supposed to be a professional instrument.. does that imply they are  or could be good out of the box.
Should someone take the chance on a stock unit.. or bite the bullet and pay up for a tweaked  harmonica?
DO all pros have their harps modified......?

Appreciate your comments and observations.....

Thanks

Jeff

Grizzly:
Hi, Jeff,

Your post covers lots of territory, and I suppose there are lots of scenarios to cover your questions. My guess is that most harmonicas are played as received, and most players would not know any better. Or they're put in a drawer for a variety of reasons, including disillusionment at their difficulty (they're not diatonics, after all), or a lack of adjustment that's attributed to some other cause.

That said, my first recent (I played decades ago but never really learned to play) harmonica happened to be a Super 64. If that's all I ever bought, and hadn't discovered SlideMeister and all the information contained in the prodigious minds of its members, I probably would have been content.

Since then, I've acquired a Chrometta 14, several CX 12s, and a CBH 2016. All of them have needed work, even the new ones, from taking the kink out of the slide (Chrometta), re-tuning badly out-of-tune reeds (the whole of my CX 12 Tenor, same for the Chrometta)—and that was on the new ones. The Super 64 was the best of the lot, in tune with itself (albeit at A=444, standard for Hohner). But it still benefited from tweaks: replace the broken spring (twice in a year), lightening its tension, smoothing the slide, attempting to make it more airtight.

I had the opportunity to play on a tweaked-out CX 12 and a custom CX 16, and could detect no appreciable difference in response or airtightness. I did tweak the slide on one of mine by taping one side, and it seemed to quiet it down some. I'll do my others eventually, but it's not a high priority.

Judging by what people here say, quality can vary enough in Hohners, especially, that playability can be disappointing or excellent, depending on luck—and the tolerance (or ignorance) of the player. Reportedly, Herings and Suzukis seem well made, with a few sample exceptions.

Some pros have their harps tweaked; some learn to do it themselves. I'm no pro, as in not making my living playing, but I make minor adjustments on my own for a couple reasons. I'm cheap, and don't want to pay anyone else, and it gives me some satisfaction to be able to make my own improvements. I won't tackle the big things (yet), but I would guess the majority of players work on their own. It's the nature of the instrument to need maintenance.

Hope this helps.

Tom

Grizzly:
Just re-read your post. For insights on Hohner Super 64X, go to that topic under "General" and read the comments, especially Danny G's.

Tom

Ziggy:
My first (Chromatic) Harmonica was a Super 64. After a month of playing without warming it up I screwed up the windsavers. So I sent it to Dick Gardner, who "Gardnerized" it. Remember, I had only played this harmonica and only for a month. Wow! What a difference. Better sound, smoother, quieter slide and very airtight.

Since then I have bought just about every harmonica under the sun. I play them straight out of the box and enjoy most of them for different reasons.

I play the Super 64 when I record or play for others...but I am saving it for Carnigie Hall  :)
Ziggy

SlideMeister:
The stock or customized question could probably be answered uniquely by hundreds of player as no two Chromatics are the same, just as no two players are the same. My guess is that the player gets more critical as he/she improves and begins to demand more from an instrument. My first Chromatic was absolutely the best thing on the planet (at the time, since I had nothing with which to compare it but a beat up Marine Band) Looking back, that 10 hole Koster Chromatic I had when I was 10 years old might actually been a real crutch, but you couldn't prove it by me at the time. It was like I died and went to Heaven. My next one was a super 64 and now that one was the best, since I literally wore the Koster out to the point where it hardly played anymore. I played that 64 for almost 10 years till it was ready to replace. Here's the secret: at 19, I was beginning to get serious, (and better as a player) THATS when I finally began to get a bit more particular.

I switched to 270s and began to see differences in quality from one to the other; some were fine right out of the box, others were so bad (come to think of it, I don't know what I did with all of them) but I just bought another one for $10.40 (those were the days eh?) Oh yeah, the one thing all of them had wrong with them was that the mouthpieces needed to be made less lethal) As I did the 270 bit for another twenty five years, I began to tweak my own, since I didn't even know any other players or knew there any such thing as customizers. Actually I didn't know any of them till after I started this group seven years ago :o)

Since then, I learned what I've been doing right and wrong all these years. Since I really hate working on them, if I ever actually make a "grownup" living before I die, I just may have one done by a pro.

I do have a Power Chrometta 14 that was given to me as a gift and can honestly tell the difference between that and my stock Chromatta 14. Not sure what Brendan did to it but it's definitely better. Again, it could be the fact that he starts out with a German Chrometta and mine are Chinese.  :-\

Bottom line IMO is that the customizers are good at what they do and they're out there if you can spend a few extra bucks to get the best 270 (or whatever) you can get.

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