Re: Racks

["Vern Smith" <jevern@xxxxxxx>]

- ----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Jonathan Simons" <jsimons2@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>

> I hate racks. I have played both harp and lead guitar for a long time ( I
> often sing lead, too) and have had all kinds of racks and many rack-like
> rigs I have made to avoid neck racks. I have always found neck racks to
> provide too little stability,  in the way when I have to sing, providing
> too little "back pressure", for lack of a better term, which I assume we
> all want so we can really get on the harp for strong tone, and finally,
> there is little or no chance of honking out a Little Walter electric tone
> with a rack.

Just as no harmonica is perfect, neither is any rack. However, for stability
and "back pressure" I urge you to take a look at my Ergonomic-Neck-Rack
(ENR) at  www.hands-free-chromatic.7p.com.  At 1.2 lbs and with adjustments
in four degrees of freedon for positioning the harp, I claim it has
important advantages over wire racks even if it won't help you much with
that "Little Walter tone".

Although I sell a neck rack, I attach my own rack to my guitar.  This has
several advantages:
* It is very stable because the guitar is big, heavy, and the neck strap is
holding it against my  body. You could think of it as a really big neck rack
with a built-in guitar
* Shifting the guitar slightly in my arms helps me play at both ends of a
12-hole chromatic.
* There is no hassle with putting it on and adjusting it, you just pick up
the guitar and are ready to play. Similarly you can dump the
guitar-with-harp on a stand and walk away as quickly as you can the guitar
alone.

It is impossible to sell such a thing for several reasons:
* Guitars are different.
* Players hold the guitars differently.
* Players say, "You're not drilling three holes in MY guitar!!"

When all's said and done, if you want to play both instruments
simultaneously, then you are going to need a rack of some sort.  If you
don't want to do that...well, that's what bands are for.

Vern