[Harp-L] re: New Safira Harps



Otto shares some links for Safira harmonicas from Hans Gockl. I've seen these before, but don't remember if they've been talked about in this forum before.


http://www.safira-chromatica.de/blues-paerle/index.htm



Interesting looking thing. I wonder why the three or four side- perforations. I can think of two reasons. The first, to allow for side egress of tone, similar to the MB's side-holes in the covers. The second, to allow for various depth of combs inside the plate. I'm assuming it's the first. An interesting usage of the CX-12 design as brought to the diatonic. I'm not sure I see an advantage over, say, Turbodog's Turbolids, in terms of how they fit and all. *


The wood-bodied, wood-covered diatonic is rather similar to the Suzuki Pure Harp. In both cases, the idea has been around for quite some time. Still, it's nice to see people are still making them, both Suzuki and Gockl.

I wonder what he uses for reed-plates and such. The comb in the "Elite Chicago Blues" (how about just "Elite", or maybe "Azure", or just "Model A", frankly) looks to be the same color as Suzuki's Bluesmaster. Also, one of the combs in the wood-covered harps appears to be a Marine Band (from the black sides, for example).


http://www.safira-chromatica.de/eng/index.htm



I've seen this before--a few years ago, it seems. It looks quite nice, but I wonder why there is no reference to the Hohner CX-12 from which he got the idea. Conversely, Siegfried Naruhn has been making his CB line for almost a decade, which also has metal covers and many similar features to this (including at least one potential flaw that I know of)--and he has always gone to pains to give the proper credit for the basic ideas of the design to Hohner. Unless Gockls the guy who designed the CX-12 for Hohner, a bit of mention for where the basic (and radical) ideas came from would be nice. Like others, he may have built a much better beast (as, say, the Polle is from the Silver Concerto or 270), but credit where credit is do.


I do like the red, and it does look quite nice (notably, if it's teflon-coated, again Siegfried got there first, as he's been doing teflon-coated CX derived custom harps for about a decade--credit where it's do and all.)



*On a side note, Siegfried also made a diatonic with a CX-like cover many years ago. Not exactly like the "Elite", but not so dissimilar. I said the same thing then--I think the CX design has some distinct advantages for chromatic, but I'm not convinced they translate to diatonic. However, the Elite also shares some similarities with the overall shape of the All-American-Bakelite series from the 1940's (as did Siegfried's prototype). It just goes to show, there are very few truly new ideas out there. Which isn't bad--I liked Siegfried's prototype as well as the AAB (I need another one), the shape is very nice, IMO and I'd love to see it tried on a modern commercial product.


http://www.safira-chromatica.de/elite/index.htm



I've also seen this one. Quite interesting, though the only really new thing is the sort of chamber that clamps on. As I said, wood covers have been around for decades--though these do looke quite nicely done, and they of course have some interesting features (particularly, I see no screws or such holding them on). I'd like to know what the intention behind the wood add-on bit. I would think it would muffle the sound more than a bit. I'll have to wait for the English website, I guess.



Overall, I'd like more specific information on the website (what he uses as the basis of his harps, reed-plate and comb wise, etc...), and also a bit more open-ness with regards to the fact that both the Elite and the first chromatic are derived from ideas first found on the CX-12.



Still, it's great to see people trying to create new(ish) designs and experimenting, particularly in the chromatic field. I look forward to seeing what else he does, and also to maybe seeing what people who have actually played these think of them and so forth.






 ()()    JR "Bulldogge" Ross
()  ()   & Snuffy, too:)
`----'







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