[Harp-L] Re: Jason Ricci custom harmonicas

[Jonathan Metts <jonathan@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Jason made a harp for me as well.  I shouldn't brag about it, but since 
you brought up the topic... I will.  It's a Golden Melody in C with some 
kind of crazy composite comb that he got elsewhere.  It is by far the 
loudest harmonica I own.  (Maybe not surprising if you've ever been to 
one of Jason's concerts!)  It's also by far the easiest to overdraw on, 
partly because I am terrible at overdraws and equally suck at my own 
customizing for that technique.  I got it shortly after buying another 
GM in C from Joe Spiers, so I naturally tend to compare them in my mind. 
 Although I haven't played either harp as much as I would like to due 
to recent illness and a dip in motivation (which I'm slowly pulling out 
of), I think Jason's harp is at least as playable as Joe's, with some of 
the bends and overbends easier to reach.  It's also set up for a 
stronger attack, whereas Joe's harp is a delicate creature that I have 
to play extremely softly.  {However, I have gradually learned to 
appreciate Joe's harp more and more as I learn to wrangle it; there's no 
doubt it is a well tuned instrument -- it's just very different than 
what I'm used to.  Joe's harp helped me play my first EVER hole-one 
overblow, and I can do it pretty consistently.}  Anyway, to get back to 
my original point, Jason Ricci makes awesome harmonicas, and I'm very 
lucky to have one.  If he does put any up for sale, I'm sure they will 
be gone in five minutes.  Jason just doesn't have the time to make many 
extra harps, given his insane tour schedule and how much obsessive 
maintenance he puts into his gig harps.

Jonathan Metts
Boulder, CO