Subject: [Harp-L] Re: Comb material

[EGS1217@xxxxxxx]

Hi Tom:
 
..not getting into the whole 'comb material doesn't matter' debate, since I  
believe that it has always been up to the player to decide whether or  not the 
harmonica sounded 'warm' or 'metallic' to his/her own  ears...and it's not 
anyone else's business to make that determination for  another musician.  It's 
entirely up to me (and you) to decide what it is we  hear and what instruments 
we wish to play. We do still have the freedom to  purchase and play our 
instruments according to our wants, needs and  tastes. 
 
 Personally...I love the look (and heft) of Chris Reynolds' combs  after 
checking out a couple of his harps at SPAH. I like the idea of  titanium combs 
too, but I still love the sound I hear in my small, little old  260 wood-combed 
Hohner chromatic.  No reason one can't like them  all.
 
Nevertheless...in re the discussion of what woods would work for combs,  
please do keep in mind that there are a great many woods  that can be toxic, and 
probably not a good idea to use for harmonica  combs.  Here's a link from the 
Musical Instrument Makers Forum  with a bit more information:
 
 
_http://www.mimf.com/archives/toxic.htm_ 
(http://www.mimf.com/archives/toxic.htm) 
 
..this subject has been raised before, either here or on another  harp list 
and from some of the past posts (if I remember correctly), I  don't believe a 
sealant was enough to block the toxicity for a mouth  instrument.  I did know 
about the toxicity to other plants of Black  Walnut, and always get a rash on 
my arms if I trim the yews in my garden...but  didn't know much about most of 
the rest.  Live and  learn. 

 
Elizabeth
 
 
Message: 8
Date: Tue, 16 Sep 2008 21:08:04 -0700 (PDT)
From: Isaac  Ullah <iiullah@xxxxxxxxx>
Subject: [Harp-L] Re: Comb material
To:  harp-l@xxxxxxxxxx, thalchak@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Message-ID:  <714220.83669.qm@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Content-Type: text/plain;  charset=iso-8859-1


Hi Tom, out here in the Southwest, a lot of  outdoor furniture is made out of 
acacia wood. I in fact have a set of acacia  wood patio furnature that I've 
had outside for two years of 120 degree summers,  crazy monsoon rains, and 
gentler but more sustained winter rains. They still  look like new. being an 
amature woodworker in addition to a harp player and a  general tinkerer, I've of 
course been thinking lately about going down to the  local woodworkers source 
and buying some small stock blanks of acacia wood to  try to mill my own combs 
out of... I am thinking that it would be WAY more  moisture resistant than 
traditional comb materials (ie. fruitwoods) while also  being way easier to mill 
than hardwoods like oak. Of course I don't own any kind  of sofisticated 
milling equipment, so my combs would probably suck (I NEED to  get a drill press!) 
:) If you can't get your hands on acacia, I think teak would  probably share 
the same benefits. Another southwestern wood
that would  probably work great is ironwood, but, as the name suggests, 
ironwood is  considerably harder than acacia or teak... Let me know if you go ahead 
with  this, and if you do end up making prototypes, I would (of course) love 
to test  some out for ya! By the way, if I was to make my own combs, they'd be 
for MS  (copying the Blues Harp comb)...Cheers from sunny Phoenix,Isaac  
Ullah 
>>On the subject of comb material - I am curious about the  pros and cons of
making combs out of different types of wood.  We all  know that the wood
combs on Marine Bands swell up when they get wet and  become uncomfortable to
play, so we migrate to the plastic combs of the  Special 20's or the Golden
Melodies.  But what about other types of wood  like oak or mahogany or ebony
or maple or elm or others?  Has anybody  ever experimented with using these
or other types of wood?  I know that  Seydel has a harmonica the appears to
be made entirely of wood, but I haven't  pulled the trigger and purchased
one.  I have also looked at the brass  combs made by Chris Reynolds at
builderofstuff.com.  His workmanship is  impressive but still I wonder about
a more economical option.  I have a  friend that owns a woodworking shop with
some very high end computerized (we  are talking $200,000 pieces of
equipment) milling equipment.  I've seen  these things in action and they are
amazing - totally computerized, very  precise.  He also happens to be a harp
player and an inventor who hold a  few patents.  I'm sure I could get him to
make some combs for me.   If anybody has some suggestions or comments I'd
like to hear them.  If I  can identify an ideal material and can get this set
up I would probably be  willing to send some combs out to those of you who
are interested so you can  have an opportunity to try them.  No promises, but
I am thinking that  once the computer program is set up the cost of material
won't be much - it's  a little piece of wood!  If I can make it happen, and
it doesn't cost me  too much I would be happy to send out some samples for
field testing.  I  would love to hear from you.



Tom H

Clearwater,  FL






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