[Harp-L] SP20 vs. Pro Harp - observations & questions

[Captron100@xxxxxxx]

Yesterday i spent hours tweaking an F# harp someone gave  me.  It was my 
first experience with a Hohner Pro Harp.  My impression  of this particular Pro 
Harp is that it is the same harp as a Special 20, but of  lesser quality -- reed 
work was sloppy, had poor tolerances and some reeds  were off-center, 
requiring a Hohner style reed wrench to fix (thanks Bill  Rommel).  
  I see the PH is the modular (replaceable reed plate)  type, tho to me the 
reed plate looked identical to my SP20's.  Is  there a way to tell the 
difference visually, between a modular version and the  non-modular reedplate?
  A check on Pat Missin's site (http://www.patmissin.com) shows  slightly 
different length reed slots between the two types.  I wonder  why.  If the two 
versions' reed slots are of different lengths, it stands  to reason that Hohner 
must need to have an entirely different  inventory of reeds.
  Except for the black painted cover of the PH, the cover is  identical in 
shape to those of the SP20 but the PH's cover is lighter in  weight.  Tho i 
don't have a scale to compare weights, the Pro Harp seems to  feel noticeably 
lightweight compared to the SP20. 
  This may be a lemon of a Pro Harp, but judging by this one  experience, 
obviously i would avoid Pro Harps in favor of SP20's. The  prices of PH's from 
online stores ranged from virtually the same to  costing more than SP20's. 
  Thanks to Harp-L and Rupert Oysler's harp repair DVD, i was able to  tweak 
this harp pretty well and it has replaced my old F# harp in my harp  case.  I 
did just about everything except tip scooping and wax or nail  polish to seal 
the base of the reed.  Here in sunny FL, i don't  think wax will last.  The 
reedplate was corroded and I didn't  feel comfortable that nail polish would 
stick.  
Re  Rupert's DVD, tho it's the next best thing to having a harp tech looking 
over  your shoulder, I would like to have more info on tuning a harp.  I read 
Pat  Missin's directions on how to tune by ear but my tuners' needles jump 
around way  way too much to get thru it.  All I ever do to tune is to tune 
octaves to  each other.  Suggestions?
ron - FL  Keys








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