Re: Which harps stay in tune longest?

[Mike Curtis <wd6ehr@xxxxxxxxxx>]

> 
> I'm inquiring as to which brands of harps(diatonic)  are preferred out there.
> I've been buying a lot of different harps in the 20-30$ range and have
> been trying to determine which are the best.  I like my special 20 pretty
> much.  I bought a Marine Band because I liked it's sound (although often
> it seems like I credit the harmonica with a change in the tone when it's
> just something different that I'm doing) but anyways, after three weeks or
> so of hard playing the four draw is so out of tune that it hurts my ears. 
> So anyways, that pissed me off because don't have much money and I hate to
> lose my harp so quickly.  So, I ask you, which harps stay in tune well?  

Rockets advice to learn how to tune harps is excellent.  There's still a 
lot of life left in the old buzzard when one reed goes a litle sour, 
especially if your ear is decent and you discern small increments of tone 
(like I do - I have the "curse" of perfect pitch)

I used to go through a marine bad (not a typo :-) every night.  I played
all instrumentals on just one C harp back in the 60's and 70's, using the
harp in a rack through a stand mounted vocal mic (which means I played it
as loud and hard as possible.)

Other tips:  

1. Break them in properly.  NEVER play hard on a brand new harp.  If you
break them in first, they'll last maybe 10 times as long.  Give it 15 to
30 minutes of gentle play. 

2. Cleanliness is important.  Never play after eating pizza :-Q  Also, 
keep it clean and tap it out after playing.  You might want to carry a 
toothbrush with you, and rinse your mouth well before playing.  (Besides, 
band broads don't like funky breath :-)

3. Regular maintenance helps.  If you're using plastic harps, disassemble
them and clean the reed plates with 91% or 99% alcohol or other non toxic
solvent, maybe once or twice a month.  You could probably use high octane
booze, like 151 rum, if that makes your socks go up and down and/or you
think it adds to your stage persona :-) Look at the gunk in the comb and
when it's noticeable, clean the harp.  (Don't use rubbing alcohol - it
often contains glycerine.  I'm not sure if it's harmful, but it doesn't
hurt to be safe.)  If you use wooden comb harps, be careful with the 
wood.  Expanded wooden combs bear more than a passing resemblance to a 
rip saw =:-(O)

Also, CAREFULLY tune your harps.  If you overtune, you'll have to remove
metal from the captive end of the reed to lower pitch, reducing its useful
life.  I usually like to err a little in favor of flatness.  It seems to 
me that a newly filed reed is just a tad flat, and picks up a couple of 
hertz after it sits a while (anyone else notice this???)

As far as harps with greatest longevity, I'd have to go with Oskars, at
least with my style of playing (did you see the Terminator II?  That'll
give you an idea how gentle I am with my harps :-) Charlie Musselwhite
says they last him 10 to 1 of "the others", and this was my initial
impression of Oskars, too (before they had endorsees - I'm not much of one
to swallow ad hype.) They outlast Suzuki Promaster valved, and Hohner Pro
Harp, Special 20, Golden Melody, Marine Band, Blues Harp, and Vest Pocket
(which I believe is now called a "Piccolo"), roughly in that order.  These
are the Hohners I've managed to blow out, in order of best to worst
regarding longevity.  I also own a Cross Harp (in A), but hardly ever use
it and therefore can't give an opinion on it (except that the reeds are
too mushy for my taste).  And I don't use my A harps much - I'd rather
play E blues with a C harp in 5th position on most things. 

I have some Huangs in F#, Ab, and B, but haven't played them enough to
blow them out.  I bought them to fill up my harp case so I can look
important when I do sessions :-) As far as MS harps, I don't own any of
these, and can't give an opinion on them.  Judging from the group, I'm not
missing anything.  Too bad - it's a great concept - I sure hope they can
get the bugs worked out of it.

Being an Electrical Engineer, and knowing what respects machines are
better than humans in this regard, I honestly feel that assembly and
tuning of harps and reed plates will eventually be done much better by
machine than humans.  This has to be a pitifully boring job at best for
people - exactly the kind of job a machine is ideally suited for.  I don't
feel the MS concept is in and of itself flawed.  However, the first tries
at anything are usually rather experimental in nature.  We are in effect
"beta testers" for Hohner.  I would expect that they would appreciate
constructive feedback on the MS, e.g.  my Marine Band is leaky; the blow 3
buzzes; the draw 4 goes flat too fast; and other specific and well defined
complaints - but not "MS= Mighty Sorry, Made Shoddily", and other generic
gripes that convey about as much information as a politicians election
speech or other sources of hot air with no direction :-)

			-o-

Back to "harps that stay in tune":
The bottom line is, with proper care, ANY harp will last a LOT longer. 

Hope this helps.  I'm sure others will also have helpful information to 
offer.  There are many here with a lot of knowledge and experience.

 -- mike