RE: marking/carrying your harps [long]

["adams, john" <adams_john@xxxxxxx>]

That foam looks exactly like what was in the tool box I bought and turned
into a harp case.  And no, I have not had a bit of foam end up in any of my
harps.

http://members.aol.com/quincy56/case1.jpg

- -----Original Message-----
From: ChipComcast [mailto:jandkday@xxxxxxxxxxx] 
Sent: Tuesday, July 08, 2003 3:07 PM
To: Michelle LeFree; harp-l@xxxxxxxxxx
Subject: Re: marking/carrying your harps [long]



 Does the pick & Pluck leave 'crumbs' of foam that clog up your harps?


- ----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Michelle LeFree" <mlefree@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: <harp-l@xxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Tuesday, July 08, 2003 1:56 PM
Subject: RE: marking/carrying your harps [long]


>
> Ray, Chip, Bobbie, steven, The Iceman, and Ryan have all recently
commented
> on marking harps, a perennial problem.
>
> Unmarked harps ~were~ the bane of my existance, and I betchya I'm not 
> the only one.  They have given rise to a ritual "dance" that only a 
> harp
player
> would know (and hate).  I call it the "Blind Harp Shuffle".  It 
> involves periodically (at the beginning of each song) picking up 
> half-dozen or so harps one-by-one, and squinting at the shiny covers 
> on a dimly or harshly lit stage un a hurried manner and selecting the 
> correctedly keyed harp, often coming in a few bars behind the rest of 
> the band.  Oh, yeah, you
gotta
> pick up the wrong harp or try to play one upside down now and then if
you're
> really doing the 'Shuffle.  For me, this senseless ritual was a real 
> trial by fire and constent source of embarrassment.
>
> After an extensive search, I've come upon what I feel is the 
> definitive solution for labelling harps.  It's a hand-held label maker 
> made by
Brother
> (P-touch, mine is model PT-1700):
>
> http://www.brother.com/usa/label/whatsapt/pt_whatsapt.html
>
> I see that Brother has a newer model 1750 and other less expensive 
> P-Touch models as well--you might want to look around at your office 
> supply store. The label printing engine is probably the same for all 
> models.  The 1750 model sells for around $50 and prints on some sort 
> of laminated plastic strip that sticks very well and seems to be 
> water-resistant (I've soaked a labelled plastic comb for two days in 
> dish-soaped water without signs of deterioration).  The labels are 
> white with crisp black lettering, a self-adhesive side and a plastic 
> side.  You can adjust the simple block
font
> to be of different widths and heights.  I've found that the widest and 
> tallest font with 3/8" tape nicely fits the back of a diatonic comb 
> and yields a highly visible label.  You just type in a list of the 
> keys of
your
> harps and print it.  You get one long strip with all your keys printed 
> on it.  Since the characters are stored in memory even when you turn 
> the printer off, you can print another strip at any time.  One 
> catch--you do have to cut them out and trim some top and bottom "white 
> space" off the labels to make them fit the back of the comb well.  Cut 
> 'em out, stick 'em on and you're good to go.  Problem solved!
>
> Also, when I label my harps in this way, I place them holes-down in a 
> customized foam block (more in a minute).  This way, since the labels 
> are placed so that the top/bottom of the harp matches that of the 
> label, in addition to the key of the harp, I know at a glance which 
> side of the harp is up.  No more squeaky notes when you think you're 
> on the low end of the harp and aren't.  Just pick up a harp label-up 
> and rotate it sideways 180 degrees 'till you see the holes and start 
> blowin'.
>
> As long as I'm on the subject, I'll share a neat little idea I found 
> on
the
> 'web for padding a harp carrying case.  It's a product called "Figure
Foam",
> sold as a component of a system for carrying toy army soldiers, 
> believe it or not.  These aren't kiddie toy soldiers, but ornate metal 
> models that grown-ups evidentally make, collect and use to stage 
> renactments of famous ground battles.  I did not know that there is a 
> whole cottage industry
built
> around this hobby, but these trays made out of scored foam of varing 
> thickness are just the thing for making a custom harp case.  Here's 
> the
> link:
>
> http://www.saboldesigns.net/website/figure_foam.html
>
> Here's how I made my custom harp case centered around these foam trays
(that
> are just like the "Pick'nPluck" foam in the expensive but excellent
Pelican
> cases).  I ordered two 1" thick Figure Foam trays for about $5 each.  
> The foam is scored in 1/2" square blocks that are 1" deep.  I plucked 
> out the scored foam blocks in a pattern of 4" X 1" compartments (that 
> fit a
diatonic
> perfectly with a little room for your fingers to pick them up).  One 
> 12
1/4"
> x 7 1/4 " tray can hold 10 diatonics with room to spare and plenty of 
> padding between the harps.  In the second foam tray, in addition to 
> more
4"
> x 1" compartments for the rest of my diatonics, a 2" x 6" compartment
holds
> my 12-hole Chromatic and 1" x 6" compartments hold my 14-hole Marine 
> Bands nicely.  So, I have my whole harp gig kit in two trays.  I fit 
> these trays (one on top of the other) and a felt-covered box I 
> fashioned out of cardboard into an old laptop case.  The box, which 
> has compartments containing my mic's, fits along the back side of the 
> case, with the two
foam
> trays full of harps stacked in the front.  The case's pockets hold my 
> mic' cables, note pad, circle of 5ths, business cards, etc., very 
> handily.
When
> I'm on stage, I simply pull out the top tray and lay it on my amp or 
> other surface.  I've got 10 harps at my fingertips and I can tell at a 
> glance
what
> keys they are and which sides are up.  When I'm done with a particular
harp,
> I put it back in the same compartment from which I removed it.  That 
> way I always have my harps organized and ready at a moment's notice.  
> No more "Blind Harp Shuffles" for me.
>
> Not a bad solution for $10 in foam trays and a $50 label maker (that 
> has many other uses as well).  Oh, yeah, since I found the foam trays, 
> I
noticed
> a product at Sears for making custom tool chests that is very similar, 
> except that it didn't have a closed-cell foam bottom like the Figure 
> Foam trays do.
>
> You need look no further for how to label (and organize) your harps!
>
> Hope you try the label printer, especially, and the Figure Foam 
> trays--together they can make a very nice system that really works.
>
> Michelle
>
>
>
>
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