The list of Hohner Affiliated Customizers (2018)

I am proud to be a Hohner Affiliated Customizer.

There are seven Hohner Affiliated Customizers worldwide.

Hohner Affiliated Customizers:

JOE FILISKO
THOMAS HANKE
JOE SPIERS
NEIL GRAHAM
ANDREW ZAJAC
JOEL ANDERSSON
RICHARD SLEIGH

What is Harmonica Customizing?

Customizing is a generic expression used to describe systematic modifications to a series product in order to meet the specific requirements of an individual customer.

Full customizing involves accepting orders to modify harmonicas in order to improve performance in regard to the specific playing style of the customer, as well as fulfilling individual wishes by exchanging or modifying parts of the instrument.

Here the goal is to make the harmonica play better, sound louder, respond better and/or facilitate certain playing styles such as overbends. In addition to the operations performed by semi customizers, full customizing always involves extensive modifications to reeds and reed slots (embossing, offsetting, gapping, polishing, bevelling of reed edges, fine tuning et al). This highly skilled work can only be conducted by experienced technicians who are also expert players.

The HOHNER AFFILIATED CUSTOMIZER PROGRAM is aimed at bringing together the finest harmonica customizers in the world under the seal of the HOHNER AFFILIATED CUSTOMIZERS. This is an independently certified seal of quality which guarantees the highest possible standards of craftsmanship, based on the finest harmonicas in the world, made by HOHNER. It represents a historic step both for HOHNER and for the harmonica community as a whole.

In order to provide a guarantee for the consumer that anyone certified as a HOHNER AFFILIATED CUSTOMIZER is capable of a level of craftsmanship which fulfils the highest possible expectations, it was necessary to agree upon an unimpeachable and widely accepted authority to bestow this revolutionary new seal of quality. To this end, HOHNER has entered into a close cooperation with harmonica customizing pioneer and master player Joe Filisko.

If their application to take part in the certification process is accepted, candidates have to submit samples of their work to Joe Filisko for in depth assessment. HOHNER may not influence his decision in any way and his answer will be either "yes" or "no". Only those applicants whose work satisifes his extremely exacting standards will be granted certification as a HOHNER AFFILIATED CUSTOMIZER and may use logo and certification in their advertising.