Re: [Harp-L] Pre War Harps

[fjm <bad_hat@xxxxxxxx>]

I can only surmise this rose out of something in my last SBS post.  The 
questions being asked indicate a fundamental misunderstanding of what I 
was trying to communicate.  I'll try again.  7 limit JI as a tuning 
imposes limitations much the same as equal tuning does.  The limitations 
are different and because of this so are the solutions. I'm a rotten 
blues player and just fair to middlin' overall.  It was however useful 
for me to get a glimpse of why a lot of this music is played the way it 
is played.

Pre War Hohners are not magical.  They do last a good long time but then 
so do modern harmonicas.  My point regarding my patent applied for well 
worn Marine Band was not so much that everyone should run out and buy 
pre wars it was really that I don't quite understand what all the fuss 
is about harmonicas not lasting because in my world they do.  The patent 
applied for being an extreme example of this.  When I first began 
playing my harmonicas died on a regular basis.  I was angry at Hohner 
blaming them for poor quality control.  I went so far as to write them 
about their terribly flat tunings.  I've lived to reconsider my position 
on the matter

Speaking of lead one thing that is different about pre war Hohners is 
they have more lead in their brass alloys.  fjm