Re: [Harp-L] Re: ideal diatonic harmonica

["ben bouman" <fitgo@xxxxxxxxxx>]

At the moment I use  Hohner Golden Melody reedplates and a wooden comb 
(mahony /walnut tree/boxwood) made by a friend of mine in Italy. This wood 
never swells, nicely rounded teeth , wonderful colour....so as good as metal 
but with better feel/touch...
I customize my harps ( embossing/arcing reeds/gapping/tuning) for 
overblow/overdraw but still they can be played loud/agressive....

So this is (almost ) my ideal harp. The thing I want is reedplates with 
reeds that aren't tuned because Hohner ruins some reeds by filing them and 
leaving deep scratches on the reed near the rivet. I have to polish them to 
make sure that they last longer..
For wooden combs please check:
http://www.bluestime.it/custom_italia/index.html

Ben Bouman
Holland
www.marbletones.com
www.marble-amps.com
www.harmonicainstituut.nl



----- Original Message ----- 
From: <MundHarp@xxxxxxx>
To: <Snaruhn@xxxxxxx>
Cc: <harp-l@xxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Wednesday, November 09, 2005 10:11 PM
Subject: Re: [Harp-L] Re: ideal diatonic harmonica


> Siegried is right, as usual!
> No two people will ever want the same thing...
>
> However, MY ideal diatonic is a Hohner MS sized harp with a metal comb. 
> ...
> stainless steel, or titanium for choice ... with "Blues Harp" cover 
> plates,
> because they are nice and thin and vibrate a lot as you play ... and the 
> whole
> thing set up by a good "harp tech."...
> YES PLEASE... I want some!!!!
>
> By the way, the comb material IMHO does not make the harp sound better, it 
> is
> just that a metal comb seems to make the instrument nicer to play, and 
> does
> not swell as wood does, and rip the player's lips... Back in the 60's and 
> the
> only diatonic short harps that I could get here in London was the "Echo 
> Super
> Vamper", with pear wood comb, (The same as HM Marine Band) my lips were 
> VERY
> sore after every gig.
>
> A good harp tech will set the instrument up for the player... If you do 
> lots
> off overblows, it will be set up closely gaped, if you play loud "bendy"
> blues, the gaps will be much wider... "Different strokes for different 
> folks"
>
> Best wishes
> John Walden
> London
> England
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