Re: [Harp-L] Little Walter & Lee Oscar



I read in Little Walter's biography that he did some tweaks to his
chromatic, like half-valving.  My friend Joe Lee Bush, who lives here in
Atlanta, met him and said that Walter showed him how to tweak the
chromatic.  Not sure if he did anything to diatonic. When I started playing,
I did notice a difference between harps, but never thought you could
customize them.  The only big difference I noticed was when i switched to
tongue blocking. Bending the low notes was very difficult until I started
reshaping reeds and sealing combs.

On 1/3/07, Tim Moyer <wmharps@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

Kevin M. Duggan wrote: > I met a really good harmonica player > who uses Hohner Marine band or blues harps. > This person buys maybe ten of these and > finds roughly, one good harmonica out of ten. > > I was really surprised to find this out, > this is a well known harmonica player.. > > When I play Marine Bands or any wood > combed instument I find them leaky and hard to play. > > Is there any advantage to playing a Marine band > over a Lee Oscar?

The Marine Band is a VERY different harmonica from the Lee Oskar,
beyond just the wood comb.  The design of the cover plates and the
materials and design of the reeds and plates give them a very
distinctive tone.  They are tuned very differently from the Oskar,
and are much better suited to chording and vamping.

There are plenty of contemporary blues harp players who prefer the
tuning and tone and feel of the "original" Marine Band.  Some
consider the fact that they are leaky and hard to play to be
challenges that have an influence on their tone and technique.

-tim



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