Re: [Harp-L] Origins of the NeckRack

"Vern Smith" <jevern@xxxxxxx> · Wed, 25 Jun 2008 01:53:07 -0700

Phil has hurt my tender feelings by failing to mention the 
Ergonomic-Neck-Racks that have been available for six years now.   ;o)
Shortly after I started making Hands-Free-Chromatics, users complained about 
the shortcomings (flimsy, adjustment slips, uncomfortable, etc.) of 
commercially available racks.  I concluded that although I didn't want to be 
in the neck rack business, it would be necessary to facilitate playing of 
the HFC.
I put wire and wingnuts out of my mind and undertook to design the "perfect" 
neck rack, having the following features:
1. Ability to hold the harp in whatever position the player desires with no 
restrictions.

   This requires three adjustments, up/down, near/far, and harp tilt angle.

2. No-slip adjustments.

3. Ability to hold either diatonic or chromatic harps.

4. Thickly padded, comfortable neck yoke.

5. Stiff, solid, long-lasting construction.
The result was the Ergonomic-Neck-Rack (ENR).  It is not pretty and, at 
$200, it is not cheap, but I claim that it is functionally the very best 
rack available. Both chromatic and diatonic players that use them send me 
enthusiastic testimonials.  If you buy an ENR, and don't want to keep it, 
you can send it back for a full refund.  I have had only one returned...just 
enough to validate the return policy.
ENRs are not patented.  If you wish make and sell them, I'll help you get 
started.  When a better rack is available, I'll retire from rack 
competition.
In the meantime, I'll have a couple of them at SPAH if you wish to kick the 
tires and take one out for a spin. See a picture and read testimonials on 
www.Hands-Free-Chromatic.7p.com .
Vern
From: <Philharpn@xxxxxxx>

To: <rick.dempster@xxxxxxxxxxx>; <Harp-L@xxxxxxxxxx>; 
<bradford.trainham@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>

Sent: Tuesday, June 24, 2008 10:24 PM

Subject: Re: [Harp-L] Origins of the NeckRack

Neck Racks have been around for a long time.   All the guys you mention are
newcomers.
The Sears, Roebuck & Co. catalogue of 1897 (a facsimile reprint) shows a 
line

drawing of a harp rack and of a guy with a derby hat and vest wearing the

wire harp rack. For adjustments, you bend the wire. It looks similar to 
todays

wingnut model but is a continuous loop of wire.
It's on page 528 (upper left corner). Two models are offered. A Harmonica
Holder made of nickel plated wire cost 34 cents or copper plated wire for 9
cents.
Obviously, if Sears was selling them, people were buying them. And what this
means is that the original ragtime cowboy was using one. (For you kids,
ragtime era was   circa 1890-1917.)
Arguably the best harp rack ever made was Blues Tools. Instead of wingnuts 
to

lock, the rack holds harps 5 inches wide and has two disks on either side to

adjust the level angle. The spring-loaded harp holder itself is bolted to a

triangular bracket that can be adjusted by repositioning the screws in 
several

different holes. This means the harp rack can be adjusted on two levels: 
close

or closer to the face and by adjusting the angle of the harp. The part that

goes behind your neck is padded. The whole thing is finished in a flat black

finish.
When the Blues tools rack came out, (was it over 10 years ago)? it was 
pricey

(much more than the $10 wire racks sold at the time). I don't know why Blues

Tools went out of business. Whether is was a financing issue or that nobody

wanted to spent $50 (if that was the price) for a harp rack when you could 
get

one for $10. I don't know if it was patented; I can find no patent number on

mine.   Based on my limited recollection of Gilbert Erector Sets (kids toy

construction sets invented by Gilbert in 1911) it would seem the kind of 
thing

somebody could mass produce and sell unassembled, thereby reducing costs.
A flat black neck rack by K& M (German firm called Koning & Meyer) looks

similar to the Blues Tools harp rack but it lacks the angle adjustment. It 
holds

harps 7 1/2 inches wide. And is not too pricey. No patent number here 
either.

Phil Lloyd

In a message dated 6/24/08 11:47:01 PM, rick.dempster@xxxxxxxxxxx writes:
.....Woody Guthrie, Doctor Ross, Jessie Fuller, Gwen Foster, Jimmy Reed,
Slim Harpo to name just a few.
>>> "Bradford Trainham" <bradford.trainham@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> 25/06/2008 11:36 
>>>  >>

>

I know for many of us, the neckrack was first popularized by Dylan...

But surely he wasn't the first to play the harmonica with another

instrument??

Can anyone point me to "pre-Dylan" neckrackers?

Brad Trainham

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