Hohner Vintage Tricell Vamper/Leg Pull!!

["Rick Dempster" <rick.dempster@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

Dear G.,
              My point is that it is a distraction for people in the early stages of learning to suggest that a
'special' harmonica is needed to play in the Walter Jacobs style.
              On what track other than this singular example does Little Walter hit anything outside what is commonly
available on a Richter diatonic and the 'open' chromatic? (OK Pat, an octave tuned one on Muddy's "Crawlin' Kingsnake")
I cannot say for certain that I have studied closely every single Little Walter track ever recorded, but I suggest that
"Ooh Baby (You're Gonna Miss Me When I'm Gone" is very much a case of the exception proving the rule.(I'll check it out
myself, however & thanx for the tip))
              But more to the point, apart from the rather dodgy looking pic., (along with schematic) on the net for
which you provided the URL, what evidence do you have of this instruments existence? For example, a page from a Hohner
catalogue..?
              And just how was it possible for the lower of the paired reeds to be bent a semitone? Half valving?
Separate sympathetic reed as in the XB?
              I remain dubious, but more than willing to be convinced. 
              If I seem a bit recalcitrant in the latter regard, I remind you that it was me who emailed you a year or
two ago to let you know that your schematics for chromatic harmonicas on your website were incorrect.
              My feeling is that there are a lot of beginners and less informed people on harp-l who are easily
mystified by a good deal of our chatter. I hate to see people confused when it's not neccessary. 
              I have never found anything that I couldn't easily reproduce from the American harp lexicon (I'm talking
in terms of note-for-note only, not tone or other indefinable qualities) except for the overblow on Blues Birdheads
'Mean & Low Blues' which took me about seven or eight years.
               What I said about Walter's playing is true for the main body of his work. Anything else is a mere detail
and a 'red herring' for anyone looking for useful information.
              The mystery of great music is discovered in art, not science. 
              Having said that, would Little Walter have been the groundbreaker he was without the invention of the
amplifier? 
              Seems like there is no simple answer to anything...
Cheers,
Rick Dempster