RE: [Harp-L] Out of the box vs customising



The list has had several threads dealing with customising harps. All of you pros know the works: Replacing or filing reeds, tightening the flow of air, replacing metal materials etc.

My question as an amateur is how much better can the tone, volume and control get after a redo. I have been happy with out of the box, eg Marine Bands.

Don't know for sure but I believe a good part of classic harp has been performed with instruments out of the box (if even that).

Harri

If you're happy with out-of-the-box harps then so be it. If you're wealthy-ish the customisers do a really great job. But there is a middle way, and that is to invest in a few tools and a tuner and open up the harps and meddle. If a customiser opened up any of my harps and observed my "work," he or she would splutter and thigh-slap uncontrollably. My application of technology and my manual skills belong to the dark ages. But the bottom line is that I can sort out the gapping and fine-tuning to make a harp that plays just fine for me, and I can fix little things that go wrong. I haven't a clue about the finer points of arcing the reeds or embossing the slots etc., things I read about here with awe and admiration, so I can't match the customisers, but I can get OOTB harps to play the way I want 'em to! More or less anyway... ;-)


Steve

http://mysite.wanadoo-members.co.uk/trad_irish_harmonica
HEAR my CD clips: http://www.gjk2.com/steveshaw/cd.htm

_________________________________________________________________
Solve the Conspiracy and win fantastic prizes. http://www.theconspiracygame.co.uk/






This archive was generated by a fusion of Pipermail 0.09 (Mailman edition) and MHonArc 2.6.8.