Re: Comb Material [revisited]

[Douglas Tate <dougtate@xxxxxxxxx>]

I think it must be Spring again...  Materials matter and all that.

I am biased.   I know this because I have been told by people who do not 
hear any difference:
(a)  I would say that because I expect it to be so...
(b) I would say that because making a harmonica with a stainless steel comb 
(as ILUS does) means I have a financial reason for saying it
(c)  If you can't prove it then it isn't true
(d) If you pay a lot of money for something then you are going to defend 
your position about it.
(e) even if I am considered an upright and honest citizen who doesn't beat 
children etc etc I still can't be believed because in this instance you are 
biased.

Having said that, whether I think other people can hear a difference  when 
I play or not makes not a jot or tittle of difference to me. It is the 
influence on the way I play guided by the differences I perceive which are 
important to me.

All that Mike Curtis says about resonant and non resonant waveforms I go 
along with... the differences I have observed are quite gross... as is the 
sound difference.

However, even playing resonantly, which I do (although of course you get a 
wider range of sound if you do the range from resonant to non resonant)  I 
feel that the density of the material alters my range of possibilities in 
sound.   My reasoning is simply that the steadier you hold the reed plates 
the less added noise you get from the reed plate flapping about.
(Test... plink the notes of a hand held reed plate and note that some notes 
work less well than others.... now grasp one edge of the reed plate in a 
vice and do the same test... then attach it to the comb of your choice and 
do the same thing.  If the body has no effect then you shouldn't get any 
difference.)
Before you tell me that not many people plink their harmonicas to make them 
work, and that most actually blow them, this is akin to the way tyres are 
balanced.   Take the thing off the vehicle and twiddle it round and add 
weights....  Unfortunately not many roads are as smooth as twirling the 
thing in midair... but it is a pretty durn good indicator that the wheel is 
in balance..... plinking a reed and seeing differences is also possibly a 
pretty good indicator..

Try  it

Douglas t