Re: Souped up Marine Band

[timm@xxxxxxxxxx (Tim Moody)]

:Tim - how exactly is it "souped up"? Retuned? Offset changed? Or is it a 
:trade secret of Joe's? 

Steve,
    First let's talk apples to apples. Joe has a lot of stuff going on with
harmonicas and is most famous for his "custom harps". With that I mean the
ones he makes from scratch. He take brass stock and make a custom comb and
cover plates and then attaches and tunes a "standard" reedplate. This way he
creates custom Special 20's, Marine Bands, and Lee Oskars(Same reedplates,
new comb and cover) that are truely unique. One other thing he does, and
this is what I was refering to, is take Marine Bands and rebuild them to a
fine instrument. He removes the covers and reedplates then treats the comb to
repel moisture. He then replces the reedplate, re-tunes it and puts the
covers back on with screw/nut sets. He also files down the edges of the
reedplates for a real nice feeling instrument. Also I forgot to mention, he
re-shapes the cover plates to resemble a pre-World War II Marine Band. Joe
is a superb machinist and does a really fine job. He sent me one out of the
kindness of his heart and asked my opinion(What an honor, huh?) on it. I can
honestly say it is the sweetest sounding harp I have EVER owned.

Did I miss anything?


PS Joe is a great guy and loves to talk harmonica.

Tim Moody