Re: Breaking in, Harp QC, rev...

[Ri58066217@xxxxxxx]

I have the 64 models.  The 64 HH280 is similar in looks to the Hering 64.
 However, the Hering has better response to the air hitting the reeds.  The
64 280 has hole number 1-4 and 1-12.  The Hering has 1-16.
The Super 64 has covers a bit rounded at the ends.  Some might say that the
Super 64 is a bit more responsive to air hitting the reeds than the 64 .  I
also bought the Super 64 X.  It has black covers and a gold covered
mouthpiece and slide.  The comb like some kind of plastic.  The 64  has a
plastic comb as well as the Super 64.  I don't know what the material is on
the Super 64.  Doesn't seem to be wood.  Some kind of plastic.  The Super 64
X has a clear plastic comb.  I can find my 64 HH280 right now, but I think
all the 64 models have screws on the reed plates.   Personally, I like the
Super 64X better than the 64 and Super 64 models.  However, the super 64 X I
bought has a very noisy slide.  I tried putting a new plastic tube on the
screws, but it stilll has a noise slide.  The sound is nice a mello.  I like
the sound but not the noise slide.  Anyone have a solution on how to make the
slide less noisy?  Right now, I like the hering 64 model.  For me, the reeds
have a quicker response to the breath than any of the Hohner models.  The
Hering has been improved with the new models.  Also, I have a two CX12
models.  One black and the other gold.  For some reason (maybe my
imagination), but the gold CX12 sounds better than the black model.  Nice
simple construction and simple to take apart for clearning.  Another models I
have are the old  Meisterklasse HH7565.  I have four of them.  Many people
still play them.  I like the sound.  As you know, you can have four of the
same kind of harmonca, nd all four of them will sound different.  I also have
four CBH2016 and 1 CBH2012.  The CBH2016 has a nice mellos sound and I
reallylike the shape of the body.  Very nice to play.  However, sometime ago
I swith the the metal harmonicas.  They seem to have a bit louder sound and
seem to project more than the 2016 or 2012.  Talk about a crazy harmonica
player buying all these harmonicas!.  But, you all know how it is with
harmonica players  buying a new model when it comes on the market.  I play
the Silver Concerto.  I think the sound is quite nice for playing in
concerts.  I think it has by far the best sound of all the harmonicas I own.
 I like the Hering for playing Scott Joplin rags.  Nice for playing octaves.
 I still like the 4 octave models over the 3 octave models, because you can
play octave much easier at the lower end of the harmonica.  I never started
playing anything except the 4 octave chromatic when I first started t the age
of 10 years (back in 1945).  I guess if I would have started on the blues, I
might be a blues player today.

Incidently, I would agree that when you starting playing a new harmonica for
awhile, that you are breaking it in so that after a time, the harmonica seems
to respond better than when it was new.  However, that is not true of the
Silver Concerto.  The reeds are made of Brilltine  copper and tend to be very
stiff.  I thought later, that I was  getting a better response after playing
the harmonica for a long time.  Not so, I was told by a world class
harmonicist.  He told me that I was learning how to play the model, and it
was not really being broken in .  I don't know how true that is.  I do know
that I the more I play the Silver Concerto, the better response I get from
the reeds. I like the harmonica very much (I ought to for the price I paid
for it!).  But of course the harmonica is a very personal thing.  What ssound
great to one person will not sound so great to another.  All players have a
perference for a certain model.

Richard Martin


Richard Martin