Re: [Harp-L] Re: questions about high keyed harps

[Joe and Cass Leone <leone@xxxxxxxx>]

On Sep 14, 2008, at 1:17 PM, Joe Spiers wrote:

> Sam are your Sp20's older ones? Hohner reeds since around '04 are  
> quite a bit more flexible than they used to be, and play pretty  
> decent out of the box.
>
> JS
Salvatore, mi amiche. My experience is that when I play harps with  
weighted ends, there is a wee bit of jet lag, and it takes a while to  
apply starting current to them. So, I have more trouble trying to  
control bends on the lower keys.

Now with the smaller higher pitched reeds, they respond quickly but  
are easy to overload. So, again, it's hard to control these reeds.  
The length of the reeds also play a part. My test of a harp is that  
if I can't get at least 4 natural and several micro tones out of hole  
3 OR be able to hit all 4 natural tones out of that hole spot on and  
on the fly, I won't buy the harp.

I find that (for me), the best harps to control are the: Bb, B, C,  
Db, D, Eb, E range. Now, they say that the Hohner D starts the series  
with the shorter reeds. I don't know. I only know that the D is about  
my favorite to work with when I'm trying something new or difficult.

Since no one allows you to test them any more, I have to go with what  
I know. I CAN do it with spl-20s and so, that's all I play. John  
Watts once let me try several harps at a spah several years ago, and  
out of the 6 or 7 brands/models I tried, I still went back to the  
spl-20s. I'm sure that (by now) there are better harps, but I don't  
need to fix something that isn't broken.

Most of my harps were pre 1992 till quite recently. I have replaced  
about 6 or 7 and I agree with Joe. The reeds ARE more supple. I  
suspect a change in the alloy..(I HOPE). But if it's a change in  
profile (i.e. thinner grind on the main shaft), I would expect them  
to fail with more regularity.

I'm also positive that custom harps negate these shortcomings  
becaaaaaause, that's exactly what the custom guys go after as  
inherent problems.

smo-joe