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From: "Barry B. Bean"
Date: Thu, 12 Sep 96 08:26:47 -0500
Subject: Re: Filisko

On Wed, 11 Sep 1996 23:29:51 -0500 (CDT), Hugh Messenger wrote:

>On Tue, 10 Sep 1996, Barry B. Bean wrote:
>> For me, the jury's still out. I was hoping that the composite harp
>> would give me the soaked MB sound in a more stable package. It
>> doesn't.
>
>I hope it wasn't anything I said which gave you that expectation.

I hold you fully responsible. In fact, I'm sending an invoice for the
difference in one really good MB and a Filisko.

> Like
>fjm, I was very specific to Joe about what I wanted, and have spent a fair
>amount of time playing with him, so he knows how I play and what I like.
>He's also pulled apart and studied a couple of my favourite off-the-shelf
>harps, to see how they were set up, and set up a couple of standard harps
>to match them, with me there to see what I liked.

If I try another Filisko, or when I wear out a set of reeds on one of
these, I probably should do the same. I've never met Joe in person,
so maybe I simply needed the "personal touch" to coax the sound I
wanted. However, I think the real culprit is that for the specific
sound I am after, I'll probably have to get the specific harp that
makes thyat sound.

>Mine ends up just being LOUDER than a regular MB. No real change in tone
>or timbre, just volume. It's also way more responsive and accurate than a
>regular one, and I like that fast rhythm stuff and quick, accurate bends.
>
>A soaked, "old fashioned" MB is about the closest I could come to describe
>the note of mine.

Thats the sound I'm looking for, and while the action is there, the
tone is still a litle brighter than I'd choose. Of course, I'm
infected with the saxophone disease, and bright/dark differences
become an obsession, so I may simply be obsessed on that particular
quality.

>Try specifying your requirements to Joe, maybe send him a favourite harp
>to look at, or even better get to meet him and jam with him. I think
>you'd be pleasantly suprised at the difference it makes.

I'm sure I would - but I don't think I could live without a favorite
harp for that long. It'd be akin to putting my tenor sax in the shop
for a few days - those are the days the phone rings off the hook for
a tenor player and I wake up at 4 AM with the best idea I ever had
for a tenor solo...

BTW I'm still overall pleased with the Filiskos. Although they're not
exactly what I was looking for, they are fine harmonicas and beat
MOST of whats available elsewhere. Should you talk to Joe, please
assure him that I'm not trashing his product online.

BBB
- -
B.B. Bean - Have horn. Will travel.
http://www.cris.com/~Bbbean