[Harp-L] XB-40 Tone

["jazmaan@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx" <dmf273@xxxxxxxxx>]

I think we all can agree that the XB-40's tone is different from a 20 reed diatonic.  And its also
different from a chromatic.   But whether it sounds better or worse than one of those harps
probably depends more on the player than the instrument.  And it also may depend on the key of the
harp.

I had several people ask me whether Pat Missin had done anything else to my harp besides retune
it, because they thought it had a better tone than they'd previously heard on the XB.  I suspect
that perception was probably influenced by the sweet sounding chords that the XB-Melody can
produce.  Pat did tell me that it takes very little tweaking to bring an XB-Melody into Just
Intonation.   I suspect that the stock XB-40 may use Equal Temperment and that may add a bit of
edginess to its "tone".  

Also, if I recall correctly, Pat thought the bending "floor" on the stock XB-40 was a bit too
high.   So he may have lowered the XB-Melody's bending floor to give it a little bit of a cushion
or "dip" under each bent note.  Maybe Pat will jump into this thread and confirm this.

But I still think at least 80% of tone comes from the player and the XB is no exception to that rule.