CJames
143 posts
Jan 21, 2010
9:04 AM
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Can anyone give me a quote on a custom MB, like a ball park figure - obviously there are different price ranges depending on what you want but what is, say...the middle price range in $US or $AUD?
also maybe suggest some customizers.
Thanks noble harpers
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toddlgreene
541 posts
Jan 21, 2010
9:06 AM
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hey Buddha...
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Todd L. Greene, V.P.
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Buddha
1282 posts
Jan 21, 2010
9:12 AM
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I'm extremely busy and have been declining orders. But I'll take yours because you're on MBH.
The best harp you've ever played is $185. I'm rasing prices as soon as I feel comfortable soliciting orders again.
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"The privilege of a lifetime is being who you are." - Joseph Campbell
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CJames
144 posts
Jan 21, 2010
9:17 AM
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Thanks Buddha I appreciate that, but like i said It may not even be for a couple of months you know, just thought i'd put it out there and get an estimate. I'd like to check out some of your work if you have a website at all i can see?
Nice summoning todd!
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Buddha
1283 posts
Jan 21, 2010
9:19 AM
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I don't have a website that I promote. I do have a new one but it's not active until I'm ready to take on new orders.
When it's active my harps are going to be $150 and $225
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"The privilege of a lifetime is being who you are." - Joseph Campbell
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CJames
145 posts
Jan 21, 2010
9:26 AM
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Ok fair enough, cheers mate. hopefully we can sort something out in the future
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barbequebob
351 posts
Jan 21, 2010
9:48 AM
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As one who's main harps are customs, once you start playing them, you may never want to play a stock harp ever again. They are definitely worth it.
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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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barbequebob
355 posts
Jan 21, 2010
9:58 AM
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You may also need to make some adjustments to your playing technique, and they will need far less breath force to do anything on them than a stock harp does as they are more hyper responsive to the point you may be afraid to touch them at first.
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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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Luke Juke
67 posts
Jan 21, 2010
12:00 PM
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@bbqbob. Can I ask you whose customs you play?
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DH
21 posts
Jan 21, 2010
12:17 PM
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Joe Spires did several for me and they're still going strong. http://www.spiersharmonicas.com/index.html
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Too Much I..IV..V..No Such Thing
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barbequebob
356 posts
Jan 21, 2010
12:45 PM
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The ones I have I got back around 2003, by Tim Northcutt, who's no longer in business. They're not the absolute best of the customs but they're still better than anything out of the box. Not one of them have been blown out. He didn't do overblow setups at all when he was in business. If anyone is gonna order customs, make sure you contact the customizer of your choice PERSONALLY and let them know what type of playing you do, including if you're a traditional player, OB'er, etc., type of tuning you prefer, etc., because it is NOT like getting something out of the box as it is to be tailored to YOUR playing and your playing style ONLY, not your neighbor's, best friend, worst enemy, everyone else in the world, etc..
There is gonna be a waiting period with all customizers because they're doing them all one by one by hand and all of these things take time and expecting them to spit them out in a matter of days is total foolishness unless you wanna deal with someting out of the box and that's the only thing you'll get quickly.
It's not uncommon for many customizers to have 3-4 months and even much longer turnaround times based on their workload, so be patient with them and don't be in a freaking hurry or all you're gonna get is half a** b**l s**t barely above the quality of something out of the box.
Joe Filisko hasn't taken on any new customers in at least 5-7 years because his workload is that of mainly big name pros, and when he was still taking on new customers himself, at last count, the turnaround time was 18 months and that's not an exaggeration.
Even Joe Spiers had to stop accepting orders for many months because of the back log of work he had and none of this stuff is done in 10 minutes like it is when it comes out of the factories and the detail work that's done by customizers, who in no uncertain terms, are craftsmen, is very precise and EXTREMELY time consuming hand work.
If you don't believe it, try doing some of the basic stuff they do and you'll quickly find that out.
As far as customizers and quality goes, two of the best people in that line are on this forum, especially for those who are OB'ers are namely Buddha (Chris Michalek) and Harpwrench (Joe Spiers). The others that are considered among the finest in the business are the Filisko guild http://www.customharmonicas.com, which includes Joe Filisko, Richard Sleigh, and Jimmy Gordon.
All of the very best customizers are also GREAT players as well.
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Sincerely,
Barbeque Bob Maglinte
Boston, MA
http://www.barbequebob.com
CD available at http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/bbmaglinte
Last Edited by on Jan 21, 2010 1:07 PM
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