reviews of Brendan's harmonicas

A space for players interested in my specialist harmonicas, alternate tunings, instructional material, recordings etc to ask questions and share information, experiences, videos etc.
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triona
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reviews of Brendan's harmonicas

Post by triona » Wed Sep 06, 2017 6:08 pm

For all who can read German:
Here are the links to some reviews of Brendan's harmonicas, which I have posted some time ago.

about the Slide Diatonic:
http://www.harpforum.de/phpbb/viewtopic.php?t=13098

about the Asia-Bend:
http://www.harpforum.de/phpbb/viewtopic.php?t=13002

Including a discussion whether it is good or not to buy harmonicas manufactured in China.


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triona
Aw, Thou beloved, do hearken to the Banshee's lonely croon!
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Brendan
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Re: reviews of Brendan's harmonicas

Post by Brendan » Fri Sep 08, 2017 8:15 am

Thanks Triona for the comprehensive reviews. Google Translate works better and better.

As for harmonicas made in China: we'd better get used to them, because more and more of us will be playing Chinese harmonicas in the future if present trends continue. Manufacturers like Easttop and Kongsheng are constantly improving critical areas like reed response and reed life with improved reed/slot tolerances and their adoption of phosphor bronze for reed material.

It's the same as Suzuki uses, and in my opinion their reeds are the most durable around. If Chinese harps have long-lasting reeds, great response out of the box, plus continue to have the best prices, they will continue to increase their market share worldwide.

Personally I'm a fan already! My Lucky 13s and AsiaBends are made by Easttop, and in regular use in live gigs and recordings. They are holding up well, no broken reeds so far. And the innovative brass-comb chroms that Easttop makes have impressed many top chromatic players - they are frankly hard to beat when it comes to volume and response for a chromatic that is lower than the cost of many older chroms with plastic combs.

The respected established names like Hohner, Suzuki and Seydel can't rely only on their past reputations to stay ahead. They need to up their game, through innovation to reduce manufacturing costs and in coming up with new harmonicas that players will really want to buy.

The increased competition in the harmonica market coming from China is good for us players and for raising harmonica quality overall. I don't see any down side.

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Tyler
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Re: reviews of Brendan's harmonicas

Post by Tyler » Fri Sep 15, 2017 12:26 pm

Brendan wrote:
Fri Sep 08, 2017 8:15 am
The increased competition in the harmonica market coming from China is good for us players and for raising harmonica quality overall. I don't see any down side.
This is very true. The quality of harmonicas goes way down when there's no competition. Hohner had famously poor harps for a bit. Once Lee Oskar came along, and Suzuki, everyone raised their quality.

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