Re: [Harp-L] Little Walter & Lee Oscar

[Philharpn@xxxxxxx]

As I recall -- I haven't checked recently -- that Lee Oskar harps are not 
only tuned "brighter" A 443+ (instead A 440 USA [Europe, A 445?]) but also "just" 
tuning instead of "equal" tuning with thinner reeds that also makes the 
Oskars easier to bend.

But the real reason they sound different is that the Lee Oskar has a plastic 
comb and the Marine Band has a wood comb. Wood tastes different. 

As for quality control, I suspect that more Marine Bands are produced than 
Lee Oskars. If this is true, larger production might leave room for wider 
variation in specs.

There is also the price difference. LO used to cost $10 more than MB. Which 
might leave more room for a quality control department to weed out the bad 
ones.

Keep on harpin' whatever you do.











In a message dated 1/4/07 10:50:54 AM, garry@xxxxxxxxxxxx writes:


> "Kevin M. Duggan" <kevin_duggan@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> 
> > I met a really good harmonica player
> > who uses Hohner Marine band or blues harps.
> > This person buys maybe ten of these and
> > finds roughly,  one good harmonica out of ten.
> 
> don't know about blues harps, but i'd be amazed about that many
> marine bands being "not good", unless that just means not set up
> exactly to his liking.  i think that as you advance beyond beginner
> level, most harps could use some degree of tweaking to make them
> play really well or fit your playing style.  but certainly the popularity
> of these harps would suggest that *somebody* is getting good ones. 
> maybe hohner reserves all the bad ones for this guy, and once every
> 10 times a good one slips through.  :-)
> 
> but if he really means "can't be played or made playable", then why
> does he keep buying them?
> 
> > Is there any advantage to playing a Marine band
> > over a Lee Oscar?
> 
> the only advantage is if you, personally, prefer the
> look/feel/sound/playability/image of the marine band,
> vs. the LO.  if not, then no.
> 
> > I wonder if Little Walter was still around
> > what he would be using?
> 
> probably a walker.
> 
> 
> ----
> Garry Hodgson, Senior Software Geek, AT&T CSO
> 
> But I'm not giving in an inch to fear
> 'Cause I promised myself this year
> I feel like I owe it...to someone.
> 
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