Re: [Harp-L] harmonicas are not guitars

[MundHarp@xxxxxxx]

Yes but the comb of the harmonica is NOT a "Sound Board". It has NOTHING to 
 do with the vibrations of the sound! 
It is INERT. (mostly!)
John "Whiteboy" Walden
Just now in:
bonnie Scotland.
 
 
In a message dated 10/28/2012 9:44:20 P.M. GMT Standard Time,  
jross38@xxxxxxxxxxx writes:

> Of  course not but I still think its a decent example as the reeds and 
strings are  in close proximity to the body


It's a horrible example because the  way the two work is entirely 
different.  In a guitar you pluck the  strings which then translate their vibration 
through the bridge to the thin  membrane which is the top of the guitar.  The 
vibrations of the top set  the chamber of air inside the body into motion 
and this is what you hear: the  amplified string.  In the harmonica you 
create a large column of air  moving through the gate of the reed.  It is the 
chopping of this column  of air which you hear, not the vibration of the reed 
per se.  Totally  different means of production.  The similar proximity of 
the reed and the  strings to the parts of the instrument is irrelevant.


> I'm not  a guitar player but I do not know any good guitar player that 
plays a plastic  body guitar correct me if I'm wrong.  If they do it's a much 
harder,  denser acrylic blend vs that abs cheap light stuff that will melt 
with light  heat. Example Seydel makes a more dense plastic comb on the 
silver that is  much better and dishwasher safe


If you watched the second video  from the start you would have read that it 
did indeed warp/melt in moderate  heat (a car window).  ABS is inexpensive, 
but not cheap--it does the job  quite well which is why so many harmonica 
companies use it.  Is your  argument against it one of feel--ie, it feels 
cheap?  Or is it the  lightness?  What makes ABS a bad material specifically?  
What makes  other plastics better?  Do you object to all injection molded  
combs?  Just trying to get a more clear answer than the amorphous  "cheap".


> But if that doesn't satisfy you then pick a nice  flute or other woodwind 
instrument. Do they use cheap plastic?  No


Woodwinds are more similar to harmonicas than are guitars, but  different 
enough that the materials don't directly equate.  That said,  there is much 
debate about what if any effect material has on the performance  of 
woodwinds.  In my not limited experience with flue pipes the main  factors which 
influence tone and timbre are ones of construction, rigidity,  and density.  The 
specific material is mostly important in terms of how  it dictates those 
factors.  But, harmonicas don't have their pitch or  timbre determined by the 
resonant body to which they are connected, and so  their behavior is 
different.  (well, the reason everyone sounds a bit  different is because our 
lungs, throat and mouth are the resonant chamber of  the harmonica--but while 
each player sounds a bit different, we all sound like  harmonica players, IMO)


> I would also submit that most  harmonica customizers do not use stock 
combs unless fixing up the marine band  stock or using the stock sp20 comb. I 
don't think they do this just because  they look good. I can speak with 
decent authority here because I sell parts to  many of them


And I reject this as being an argument by  authority.  I'm sure there are 
many reasons why people would choose your  combs.  The flatness one is pretty 
compelling, IMO.  A nice feel or  look is quite important as well.  But 
this doesn't address any of the  questions I raised or points I made.


Dave Payne writes:

"I  was all agreeing with you about how the comb doesn't do tuning fork 
stuff,  doesn't resonate like a tuning fork, etc. until you said this:
"The  harmonica comb is essentially inert.
So take a wooden table. Find an even  larger table to bang it on. You will 
notice no tuning-fork resonant  action.
However, have somebody gently rap one end of the table and put your  ear on 
the other end."



Now take two large pieces of brass which  weigh proportionally as much to 
the table as reed-plates to a harmonica  comb.  Screw them securely together 
with the table in between.   Repeat the process rapping on the wood.  You 
will be unable to set the  table into vibration and thus translate nothing.  
Again, compare like to  like, not like to unlike.  




JR  Ross