Re: [Harp-L] MB Deluxe?

["Jonathan R. Ross" <jross38@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

Fernando wrote:

>There is a good reason why the comb is not sealed on all surfaces. The
>aim was to make a wooden body which works great, trying to mantain it
as
>"wooden" as possible. We have found out that it is not necessary to
seal >the two surfaces where the plates come in contact with the body.
The Marine >Band Deluxe bodies work very well this way, continuing to be
wood, and not >being turned into plastic.

I must disagree.  First, I'll admit to not having seen an MB Deluxe
model yet.  But that really doesn't effect my disagreement.  As someone
who often works with wood (as opposed to a wood-worker--they have
skills, I don't) I believe that the assumption here is going to lead to
significant problems.  You must seal wood on either all otherwise you
will be causing worse warpage problems than if you don't seal it at all.
Even with the wood sandwiched between the plates, there is enough
surface area exposed and enough that will get wet to cause warpage in
the unsealed portions.  Since the wood will expand, it will do so where
it is not sealed and the warpage there will in fact be worse because it
can only move in that one direction.  I've seen this happen on all sizes
of wood, and it is not a good thing.

I don't think anyone would care if the comb was sealed all around in
terms of "woodiness"--it's in their minds anyway so I'm sure those who
say it makes a difference have either already rejected any sealing or
accepted total sealing.  I'm sorry, but I feel that this is going to
turn out to be a significant problem as the MB-Deluxe gets used in the
field, I hope that I'm proved wrong, but we shall see.

Frankly I think the whole idea is a bit silly.  Simply update the MB to
have screws and a sealed, composite or plastic comb and be done with it
(BTW, does the GM still use nails--if so, that should also be changed).
Use those reed-plates on the MB, GM and a new Meisterklasse and scrap
the MS line and Hohner will have a much more logical and consistent
line-up (the S20 would still be their best harp, IMO) which satisfied
the demands of both the limited pro and harp-l market while being cheap
enough for the majority of one-time-only buyers.  And frankly, while
some here might complain about the MB having screws and a sealed comb,
as long as the cover-plate and basic look is the same the average buyer
wouldn't even know there was a difference (unlike with the MS, where the
change was to a decidedly inferior design).

But maybe it's just me.  In any event, we'll see what happens with these
combs.  My experience with wood doesn't give me much hope for partially
sealed combs holding up well over the years.




 oo    JR "Bulldogge" Ross
()()   & Snuffy, too:)
`--'