Re: [Harp-L] Pre War Harps

[David Payne <dave@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

----- Original Message ----
From: fjm <bad_hat@xxxxxxxx>


Can't believe I let this one pass without a reply. I'm not disagreeing, FJM, I'm adding to what you said. 

FJM: â7 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. â


That's very true. There's a definite reason harps, with a few exceptions, aren't tuned that way anymore. If you play straight harp on a JI, that five hole sounds like crap. 

FJM: âPre War Hohners are not magical.They do last a good long time but then 
so do modern harmonicas. â


Also true. I believe so much of the harmonica is subjective. If I had to play one of two Marine Bands, one a modern one and one a prewar I'd pick the prewar. That's even if they played the same. The essence of the prewar is craftsmanship, it has an appeal because of the stigma that back in those days, the company gave a darn about the final product. Whether they did at the time, I don't know. It's probably irrelevant to the pre-war mystique... the perception is they did and that's what drives this prewar cult phenomenon. 
All this said, I've not noticed any difference in longevity between harps of the 30s and harps from later periods. I don't know because I baby my prewars quite a bit, but I never get a prewar expecting it to last longer. You are right about the trace lead in the prewars, by the way.
My big kick now is prewar Seydel and I am enjoying the extinct makers as well like F.R. Holtz... I'd like to find something from A.A. Schlott one of these days. I go looking into these prewar patents from Klingenthal, Germany, Seydels are five pages long, drawings, explanations. Then you come across A.A.'s patents from Klingenthal and you recognize them without reading them... they are vanilla ice cream to the core, no frills, no nuthin'. All two pages. No drawings. 
With the exception of the old Bandmaster coverplate design, there's not a whole lot of fundamental differences between the prewar and the new Seydel with the reeds, the reeds, both to the naked eye and jewelers loop, appear identical. The Solist reedplate is virtually identical to the prewar Bandmaster reedplate, for instance. Since the prewar, there's been a lot of improvements, especially with the 1847. The current and prewar Seydels both good. But, I still get all revved up on the prewars. Why? Because they are cool. I'm perfectly fine with liking something primarily because it is cool. 


Dave  
___________________________
Dave Payne Sr. 
Elk River Harmonicas
www.elkriverharmonicas.com 
How to play harmonica rhythm:
www.ehow.com/how_2244439_play-harmonica-rhythm.html