Re: [Harp-L] A surprising Hohner Silver Star

[martin oldsberg <martinoldsberg@xxxxxxxxx>]

Gosh, so it´s that simple! 
  Thank you, Joe, and I´m blushing in a becoming manner. With a few minutes of concentrated brain work I ought to have been able to come up with this hypothesis myself -- but why exert oneself?
 
So Eb is the breaking point? Interestingly, I have a Huang Bac-Pac harp in D that almost has held up as well as that little bugger in E ... -- but I understand the general principle. 
 
thanks again,
says,
Martin,
who´s in a hurry downtown to buy a couple of more Silver Stars in high keys, since there´s a bit of a sale! on them.
 
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From: joe leone <>

On Aug 26, 2010, at 5:34 PM, martin oldsberg wrote:

> The Silver Star is not one of Hohner´s top of the line products,  
> and that is reflected in it´s price, but I´ve been surprised by one  
> thing:
>   Normally if I buy a C or A harp they´re pretty much goners after  
> a few days, but there is one Silver Star in E that just keeps  
> hanging on -- and we´re talking years of hard labour here.
>   What could be the reason for this?

Eb and higher =....shorter stronger (comparitively) reeds

>   One would assume that the difference, in metallurgical terms, ain 
> ´t that great between a C and an E -- or?

If you take a lucite plastic ruler, hang it over the edge of a table  
and twang it while exposing more and more over the edge, after  
exposing more and more ruler, it can break. Turtle, tortoise,  
terrapin? same thing.

>   I´ve abused this one to an unlikely extent and it still shows no  
> sign of giving up; hasn´t even needed a tuning. The key of A Silver  
> Star that I bought the other week is now, by way of comparison,  
> irredeemably lost, and sounded crap form the outset.
>    Is it so that the Silver Stars started out as great harps and  
> then declined, and it was just my luck that I got this one from the  
> right early batch?

The A has weighted tips on the low end. Add fishing sinker to the  
ruler tip. = quicker failure.