Re: [Harp-L] note refusing to sound after cover plates are attachedd

[MundHarp@xxxxxxx]

I have to disagree...
I LOVE the MS system.
The parts are interchangeable and they are simply louder and more powerful  
than the old HM system....
My current set of diatonic's are ALL MS system, mostly with Meisterklasse  
combs, or with a variety of stainless steel combs, even a couple with titanium  
combs from Tom Moyer... ( THE BEST THERE IS!) OK I have some plastic and other 
 combs  in wood (dousie), a GREAT improvement on the pear wood HM  series...
OK
THAT WORKS FOR ME!
I play too loud most of the time anyway....
But my favorite harp is an MS Meisterklasse set of reed plates, Blues Harp  
cover plates and Tom Moyer Titanium, or various other stainless combs...
But my harps are MUCH louder than the old  1960s or 1970's Marine  Bands or 
Blues Harp HMs... AND THEY DON'T rip my lips to bits! HEAVEN...
Back in the 1960s I'd buy boxes of a dozen 10 hole "Echo Super Vampers"  
Identical to "Marine Bands"... at each time in every key, they blew out  within an 
hour and ripped my lips to piecies.... Then I chucked them away. But  then 
Hohner UK stopped agreeing to sell me harps wholesale... That put my  playing 
back YEARS.... I now simply use Hohner because I like them. Back in the  1960's 
they didn't care about harmonicists because they had a monopoly! (In  Great 
Britain anyway!)
40 years later, It takes me a month to blow out a diatonic. Perhaps I'm now  
a better player? BUT I DONT think so. I think it's because these days the 
harps  are MUCH better.
Hohner and PARTICULARLY custom harmonicas have never been so good as those  
that are available today...
Sorry about the rant, but I'll never forgive Hohner UK for preventing me, a  
pro harp player, from buying instruments wholesale!...
What it's now 40 years later...
Jeezzzz   HOW can I ever forgive them?
Am I that old?
John "Whiteboy" Walden
London
England
 
 
 
 
In a message dated 15/06/2008 16:45:33 Pacific Daylight Time,  
dave@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx writes:


"Anyway..... the troublesome harp is a Hohner Meisterclass modular  system - 
how did u guess? It 
belongs to a friend. I am not a fan of  MS.  From my experience, i often see 
lousy tolerances, poor 
gapping,  and reeds that sit off-kilter in their slots."  
I've never been a fan  of MS, either. I'm sorry it was a Meisterklasse, too, 
I loved that harp back  when it was handmade, hated to see it go the way of 
the Old Standby, which was  my favorite when it was a Marine Band clone.
The reason I was thinking that  wasn't really because of the off-center 
reeds, etc. although those are major  issues, I was primarily thinking this because 
the MS series has the coverplate  screws doing the reed-plate holding work of 
at least two reedplate screws on  better harps. On other harps, the reedplate 
screws do 95 percent of the  reedplate holding and the coverplate screws' 
main job is holding the  coverplates. Had you tightened the coverplate screws on 
one of those harps, it  would likely have little affect on how the reedplate 
flattens. You would have  had that problem with a reedplate screw, not a 
coverplate screw. 
Thanks  for posting that. I really enjoy participating in Harp-L mystery harp 
 theater.
Dave