Strasser - Harmonikas

It is important to find out the right instrument for yourself out of the rich model collection of the various offerers, so that joy and satisfaction also accompany the music making after you buy your valuable instrument. In order to offer you an assistence while searching for "your" instrument, we want to neutrally present you some of the arguments of our competitors and we also want you to have a closer look of the Strasser philosophy:

Number of trumpets on the bass part

The number of the acoustic horns does not determine the volume of the basses, it just serves as a predominant part, for the optic of the instrument.

Number of bellow folds

The number of the bellow folds is not decisive for the air consumption, but it determines only the maximum extension length of the bellow. Thus 13 - 15 folds have proven to be optimal, since decades, for a normal body size as well as for the typical way of playing. It is also to be considered that an unnecessarily longer bellow also increases the weight of your instrument.

Weight

It is a wish of almost every harmonica player to have a possibly lighter instrument but the instrument should still be able to "bear" its use over the years. Only a sophisticated construction method, which is continuously improved over the decades can realise both of these points. Our special tip: do not believe in every single weight detail. Just examine the weight of the read- to-play instrument for yourselves. Deviations of weight details of more than 1 kilo, in diverse prospects, is not a rarity.

Wood (Material of the body)

As the styrian harmonica is not a resonance instrument, like for eg. a guitar or a violin, the material of the body is also not decisive for the sound of the instrument. We use the multi-layered wood, which is exclusively manufactured for us. The light weight of the wood, its high stability and its high distortion firmness has helped it to be a first-class wood since more than 30 years.

It has been recruited as tone wood, resonance wood and many other freely invented expressions but the test results of universities and resonance research institutes have confirmed that the sound of a harmonica does not depend on the material of the body. We have accomplished lots of tests with different materials (Metal, plastic, diverse massive woods and plywoods) and that is why we could determine ourselves that the material of the body does not exercise any influence on the sound of the instrument.

The sound of a harmonika is thus exclusively influenced from the nature of the tune sticks, from voice material, from the type of the tendency (a strong vibration to totally less vibration) and from the treble mechanism. The intensity of the vibrations is determined, in most of the firms, as per the wish of the customer. An intensive vibration (tremolo) goes in the direction "Musette", a normal vibration is suitable für the traditional music and a decent vibration is preferred by real folk musicians.

Research and development

Continuous improvements and further developments are very important, also in the traditional areas, like that of the harmonica construction. Out of this reason there is an individual area in the house of Strasser since long which is employed for the further development of the instruments.

Numerous material tests, sequencial acoustic trials, mechanical load tests as well as continuous extension of the design variations have strengthened the name of Strasser since decades. In order to follow the last trend in the area of the traditional (popular) music, the trend harmonica "Strasser Creativ" proves our development work, just like the series “Natur”, which is specially developed for the real folk music, or the revolutionary easy-play mechanism (patented Strasser cone bearing application). These developements ensure us and you as harmonica players, the best of Strasser ever...

Voice tendency

Even in its voice tendency Strasser sets new measures. With enormous research work and costs we have succeeded, in co-operation with the technical universtiy of Graz, to give the voice master also an electrical assistance whose accuracy is 30 times higher (0.1 cent accuracy) than a trained human ear.

That is why it is possible to obtain a competition-free, repetated accuracy of each voice (also during the special fluctuations). Every Strasser harmonica undergoes a strict quality control after the end phase. whereby through the combination of manual as well as the computer work, the smallest accuracy is also assured so that, even the most demanding customers are absolutely satisfied with Strasser harmonica.

Quality, Value and Price

The quality of an instrument is dependent on the distinguished processing and the best materials as well as on the experience in the harmonica construction... and the value of a harmonica is also dependent on this quality ... and our price orients itself according to this value. The price is fairly calculated in your interest.

As we believe that the price should correspond a proper value and not the negotiating talent of the salesman or of the buyer, it should not be the criteria for you, whether you order your harmonica from north, south, east or west, and thus we assure you a clear price structure. As per that no discounts can be expected also from our contract dealers, but one thing can definitely be demanded from us ...

... the best, high quality harmonicas for more pleasure while playing

Our partners do not give discounts, but we only deliver high quality harmonicas for you to enjoy the best playing.

... and that is why, Strasser-quality
with tradition

After many years of experimenting and testing, we have managed to bring into the market, a completely new developed treble mechanism (keys). This "patent protected " SKL mechanism (Strasser Konus Lagerung) has been a standard, since january 1999, while manufacturing the entire Strasser harmonicas. The advantages of the new SKL (Strasser -) mechanism, which is tested several times, in contrast to the traditional aluminium mechanisms are:

Wear-resistent through self-retightening "cone (konus) bearing application"
A softer sound in comparison to the traditional aluminium mechanism
Higher pressure on the folding cover through the light key pressure, and therefore a higher compression of the instrument
A fitting possibility for MIDI is already pre-arranged
Screw connections of the key-cover are invisible from outside

The instruments appear smaller and more delicate through the decrease in the height of the folding stick
Unwanted key vibrations are apparently reduced through the use of glass fiber-strengthened plastic
A faster response of sounds

The aluminium mechanism was one of the few parts, which the Strasser harmonica production had to buy from outside. The new patent protected SKL mechanism is now produced exclusively in our factory which is obviously better for the quality control.

Thus the "Strasser Harmonika“ has become still unique than it already is. Because of our home production of the SKL mechanism we have again succeeded to take a major step in the future and we hope that even you experience a lot of joy with your instrument.