Re: [Harp-L] Charlie McCoy's brand (was Link to Steven Tyler harmonica article)


On Jul 12, 2007, at 10:53 AM, Captron100@xxxxxxx wrote:


In a message dated 7/12/2007 3:16:22 A.M. Eastern Daylight Time,
harp-l-request@xxxxxxxxxx writes:

Some harps have dumb names anyway. Golden Melody is cute, Marine Band is
nostalgic, but I will wait for the name special-20 to change to the Charley
McCoy.


In an interview i read many years ago, Charlie said he used Marine Bands
and Hohner Old Standbys, which was a less expensive version of an MB.

I don't think it was the price as much as the 'whippiness' of the reeds. I would stick my neck out and guess that Charlie (like the rest of us) has tried them all. I mean, after all, it was his livlihood. I remember that I bought my first diatonic and though I had a choice, I chose the Marine Band.

The way I saw it was that since my grandfather taught me 'Jozine, you getta whatta you pay afor, and evena then, you don't". There was the Old Standby ($1.90), the Great Little Harp ($1.50), the Pocket Pal ($1.20), the American Ace ($1.40). But the Marine Band was $4.40 and Blues Harp was $4.80. I had a paper route and it was worth skipping a few popsicles or ice cream drumsticks or creamsicles to get the 'Better' harp. I started with the blues harp. What a fiasco. Too stiff. I wasn't bending back then, but then again, I never DID using that stiff reeded bugger.

When I tried the Old Standby...voila. So, that's what I played for a while. Then the Marine Band, then when spl-20s came out. that's all the farther I had to go. Back then, there was some lead in the amalgum and the reeds seemed softer.
But what a bunch of stupid names for harps.
1... Old Standby? standby for what? what are we standing BY for?
2... Great Little Harp? we already know that it's a harp, we already know that it's little. As for great?..ok.
3... American Ace? Yeah, like we know so many of THOSE.
4... Pocket Pal? now THIS one makes perfect sense. It was always my pal. It was always in my pocket. Till it got run over by a streetcar. :(

I used to have one, and iirc, it's covers were different and made of a lighter gauge
material. Other than that, I think they were the same.
Interestingly, in that interview, when asked how he decides which harp to
buy, he said something like before the purchase he plays every harp in the
store.

Back when Farrell was still around, I watched a (relatively) well known player try every single C chromo (about a dozen). Then he put them in 3 groups. Then he tried the 4 from the last group one more time and cut that down to 2. Then he bought 1. What a Putz. You could DO that back then. You couldn't do it at a music store. They made you use the bellows. That piece of junk is worthless BECAUSE: contrary to popular belief, you do NOT breathe through a harp. You DO blow & suck. Breathing doesn't take take into consideration pressure (at 14.7 psi or BAR).

You don't breathe at 14.7 psi while playing a harp. Not unless you are playing in braille. When you're sleeping, you're breathing (if you're lucky). blow & suck are pressure related words. You can't take soda up a straw at 14.7 psi or by breathing, You don't get a drink through the Artesian effect. You must apply pressure (however slight). Playing harp should require 22 psi to get any volume, and for people who REALLY blow, more like 33 psi. (tee hee)

Out of curiosity, what kind of harps does Charlie McCoy use nowadays?
What kind of harps was he using when he played at Iceman's last harp blast in
Florida, USA? 

Yeah Glacier man, inquiring minds and all that.
Smokey-Joe's opinion.

ron








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