A Harp

[Steve Price <sprice@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Hey, I know, let's talk about harps again.  Now, my favorite key harp is 
the A which I play crossed most of the time and in 3rd position with a 
capo on my guitar so I'm playing in Bm.  

Now, here's the thing.  I haven't had a good A harp in months, and I've 
gone through about 6 or 7 since November.  I got the new MS Cross Harp, 
and I've posted on all the problems I have with the new design.  I've had 
an Oskar, 2 Special 20s, I tried a cheapie like a Hot Metal, and a couple 
of Silvertone Deluxes.  But the one that had the most flair was a Star 
Performer (I never would have guessed).  

However, I wore that Star Performer out really fast.  Do Huangs usually 
die this fast?  

I don't really have an explanation for why all these A harps have been 
such duds.  I play them hard, but I always have.  I'm assuming that in 
the case of some of these harps, I could adjust the reed offset and get 
an okay harp again, but in a couple of cases, that hasn't done the 
trick.  (I know I should experiment around more.)  But here's the thing.  
Mike Curtis suggests that a gentle break-in period would make my harps 
last longer.  I've been playing for 30 years and I've never noticed 
anything like that.  Does anyone agree with Mike?  I don't dip them in 
anything because I found decades ago that that wore them out quicker.   
Does anyone have any suggestions for longevity for harps besides Mike?  

What I'm finding is that the blow reeds don't respond unless I'm extra 
delicate.  But if I adjust the offset, the blow reeds might be okay, but 
the draw reeds take twice as much work to bend.  I ditz around with the 
things until I've worn out the screw heads with dismantaling and 
reassembling.  

Any ideas?

	Steve Hohner-is-why-I-play-the-blues Price