Re: Why do LO's last longer than MB's?

[Pat Missin <pat@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

BBQ Bob wrote:
>
>My own theory on why the LO's last longer than the Marine Bands is that I
>would be willing to bet that the reed tongues Aand the reed slots have a
>tigher tolerance, but to make that work, the reeds and the slots must be as
>burr-free as possible, and many burrs are hard to see even with a good
>mangifiying glass, and so when the burrs bang on the slots or the reeds
>(based on location), there's more stress placed on the reed metal, thus
>eventually weaking then reed quicker. (Remember, this is only my theory!)

I have to say that I don't find it to be a very convincing one.

Any burrs that impede the motion of the reed through the slot are
going to make their presence known audibly, even if you can't see
them. Any burr hard enough to cause mechanical damage to the reed is
probably going to jam the reed completely.

Besides if you say that closer tolerances mean a higher likelihood of
burrs, then according to your theory this would mean that LO reeds
would wear out faster than MB reeds, as the former generally have
closer tolerances. It has to be said, however, that tolerances on the
Hohner Classic/Handmade harps have been improving over the last few
years.

>However, IMHO, with the HM MB's, it does need a short breaking in period
>first more than some other harps do (tho I do believe it should be done with
>any harp regardless of brand or if it's a customized harp).

IMO there is no hard evidence to back this up and it is certainly not
supported by my own observations. FWIW, my own opinions on this topic
are here:

http://www.patmissin.com/ffaq/q8.html

>You can always retune your LO's to just. BTW, when the LO's first hit the
>market in 1985, they came in two versions, one in equal tuning, and one they
>called harmony tuning, which was basically another name for a comoprimised
>just intonation

As I have said before "compromised just intonation" is any oxymoron.
If a tuning is compromised it is by definition not just. Likewise, if
a tuning is just it is by definition not compromised. The term
"compromised just intonation" is like calling a tuning "partly totally
pure".

 -- Pat.