RE: Harp rack

["MLeFree" <mlefree@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Joel Fritz wrote:
> Every rack I've ever used needed a better way of clamping.  A lot of
> people add rubber bands.  Another thing to try would be to glue a wide
> rubber band strip on the surfaces that hold the harp to increase the
> friction.  Racks are designed like cheap exercise machines--more for show
> than use.

Here's a rack that you won't have ~that~ problem with:

http://www.harpdepot.com/productdetail/~Model/12NR~/d.html

My teacher was always repairing and fiddling with his ancient Hohner harp
rack, so I bought him one of these Weltmeister (aka Bushman) racks.  They
are far more heavy-duty than the Hohner ones and will fit a diatonic or
chromatic.  They have nice knurled knobs at the joints instead of wingnuts.
Looked like just the thing for my teacher.

But...  The first time he tried it was at a gig of 500 people or so (he
plays solo slide guitar, bass drum, and harp).  He tried to use it for his
first song and I could immediately see he was having trouble getting his
harp into it.  Just when he thought he had it, the harp escaped the rack's
strong grasp and shot across the stage, bouncing along the floor.  You can
imagine how I felt!  No, you can imagine how HE felt!  He quickly retrieved
his old standby Hohner rack and the show went on fine.  After this debacle,
he wouldn't touch the thing ever again.

But, I still think the Weltmeister rack deserves a look.  It's so much
better built than the Hohner racks.  (Don't use a rack m'self, so I can't
speak from personal experience.)

Michelle