Re: [Harp-L] Harp Soaking

[Elizabeth Hess <TinLizzie2010@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

I have "The Harmonica According to Charlie Musselwhite", Copyright 
1982, Centerstream Publishing, Fullerton, CA.  There is no ISBN number.


On page 7 of this book he writes:


The Care and Feeding of the Harmonica

Some people soak their harps in water to get a better tone and to make 
bends easier.  This is somewhat effective for a few minutes, but in the 
long run it is best to keep your harps clean and dry.  I've seen people 
soak their harps in beer and liquor, too.  That's even worse on the 
harp, besides ruining a good drink.  Soaking causes the wood to swell 
up and out of the harp to where it can cut your lips and make it very 
difficult to make a sliding run of notes.  A wet harp will corrode and 
go out of tune and collect smoke and dust that causes the reeds to 
stick.

Another thing that's really bad is if the top or bottom "backs" of the 
harp [the diagram shows what we now call the cover plates] get bent 
away from the brass plates, even a tiny bit, so much air will escape 
that you'll hardly be able to make a bend and you'll lose tone.

The general rule is:  when you're playing keep your harp dry, and when 
you're through keep it in its box.



On Jan 28, 2010, at 4:45 PM, Johnnie Harp wrote:

> <snip>

> Yet, despite some strong opinions on Harp-L that harps wouldn't have 
> been soaked in the past, in the last couple of days we have a report 
> of Charlie Musselwhite soaking in the 60s, and Paul Butterfield too 
> ...
>
> The next person that sees Charlie, or James Cotton needs to pose these 
> questions while they still can be answered. Also, Mark Hummel might be 
> a good historical source given his interaction with guest players 
> through his Harp Blow Off shows ...