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Dirty-South Blues Harp forum: wail on! >
Custom Harps
Custom Harps
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Delta Dirt
29 posts
Nov 04, 2009
5:39 PM
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OK guys i think im ready to take the plunge and let someone do some customizing for me. Ive been playing on stage for thirty years and have never done it. Been through a million harps and im tired of looking for the majic one. Will yall please lay a few names on me and what you like about them? Thanks.
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ZackPomerleau
435 posts
Nov 04, 2009
5:42 PM
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Well I have played a bunch and Chris Michalek makes some great ones. I think he gives lessons with them, but I'm not sure if he still does.
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scstrickland
288 posts
Nov 04, 2009
6:25 PM
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I think if I bought a custom harp (which I will probably do one day) Id go with Chris - "Buddha"
http://www.buddhasgarden.net/purchase/
or you might be the first on the block to own one of these
http://www.harrisonharmonicas.com/
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ness
109 posts
Nov 04, 2009
6:55 PM
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I hear a lot of good things about Chris' harps, and some of it from people other than him. Not sure of the pricing, but it's somewhere over $40.
John
(who's just trying to have a little fun).
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superchucker77
196 posts
Nov 04, 2009
8:25 PM
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Chris' harps are really incredible. I bought one several months ago, and I am extreamly pleased with it's performance. Not only does it overblow/overdraw/bend amazingly well, but it is also an extreamly beautyful instrument. I do incourage you to buy one, it's definitly worth the money.
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Brandon Bailey
Superchucker77's Youtube
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barbequebob
43 posts
Nov 05, 2009
6:19 AM
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Before you order any customs, it is important that you know EXACTLY what your playing needs are because, as an example, the reed set up for an overblow player is far different than that of a traditonal blues player is gonna be and if you don't know where you're playing is at and you don't tell them that before ANYTHING gets ordered, you may be very unhappy.
As an example, on another forum had told me that he got a custom harp from the Joe Filisko guild of customizers and on their site, they clearly tell you what setups are available and at what cost. Problem with this player was that he was so used to buying out of the box harps, which are tailored to the masses, more like one size fits all, but with customs, they;re tailored to you and you only, and since he didn't comprehend this, he just went with as far too many harp players tend to do, go the cheapest route possible, which was the blues setup, where the harp is tuned to just intonation and is set up for the way most blues players do.
Well, this guy is much more of an oveerblow player, and harps for overblows must be setup DIFFERENTLY in order to opptimize that technique, and when he emailed me off list, I asked him right off the bat if he told them about his playing style before getting anything ordred, and unfortunately, he didn't and he said he didn't know about that being a necessity.
At that time, they charged more for the overblow setup because it is more time consuming in terms of labor involved and a guy like Joe Spiers, one of the best customizers in the business, has his top level and most expensive custom job because of the necessary intensive hand labor.
One thing to remember is that when you first get them, there is a break in period, not for the harmonica, but for the player because one of the very first things done is embossing the reed slot tolerances, which is tightening them up considerably (much more than the new Suzuki Manji has it right now and they're the tightest among stock harps being made available today), and this is where the greatest amount of air leaks in harmonicas actually are coming from, so now 10 times as much air is being directed to the reed, and one of the first things you will need to work on ASAP is breath control and learning to use the least amount of air necessary becaause the single drawback to any harp with a tight slot tolerance is that tho they will now play considerably louder and brighter, it does make a harp more easily able to get clogged up by saliva and/or layers of dead skin and worse, getting blown out real fast, and so I abslutely cannot overstress the need of getting your breath control together in a big way.
The other thing with a custom is that when a reed finally gives in to metal fatigue and dies, rather than throw it away or buy an entire reed plate set, you send it back to them and they replace the single offending reed and that's the only reed that will need the tweaking and the rest of the harp is still already set up for your playing style, and now instead of blow it out and throw it out, you now have a lifetime instrument, much like as if you're buying a guitar.
Once you get used to playing customs, you'll get so spoiled that you may never want to go back to a stock harp ever again.
Some of the top guys in the business are also the guys who will do overblow setups are: Joe Spiers, Jo Filisko, Richard Sleigh, Jimmy Gordon, Chris Michalek, and until he started with his own production line of harmonicas, Brad Harrison.
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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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Bluzdude46
257 posts
Nov 05, 2009
2:06 PM
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Buddha Harps Rock!!! I can play Country Blues, Fast Licks, Overblows I understand what yer saying about setting it up specifically, Bob, but these things are just smooth even from hole to hole, responsive to a feather touch but can jam in the next draw. I cannot say enough about them. Best Harps I've ever played. And priced better then most.
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