Vern wrote:
Bamboo may very well make an excellent mechanical comb material because it is laminated, straight-grained, hard, stable in the presence of moisture, readily available, and blonde.
SB:
It makes an excellent comb material but requires sealing completely with water-resistant laquer. For
Vern: I challenge the notion that bamboo or any other comb material perceptibly affects the sound of a harmonica. If anyone can demonstrate the ability to hear differences between pearwood and bamboo combs under controlled conditions, they can win my $1000 wager!
SB:
I'm aware of the contention surrounding this subject and deliberately made no claims that there is any "objective" difference. I'm happy for players to reach their own conclusions.
Vern: You mentioned a "blind test" and that the participants played the harps "without knowing the others' preferences or the materials tested" . How were the distinguished players or listeners denied the knowledge of the comb materials in the harps that they were hearing or playing? What was the test protocol?
SB:
They were simply given a bunch of harps to play and asked to compare them and note their opinions on the points mentioned. Comb materials were not mentioned but the players could see that there were different materials involved. Using a 1 - 10 scale is a bit like awarding points to fine wines, it's certainly not an exact science but it does enable experts to make valid comparisons. The numbers were added up to determine any overall preferences. We were surprised by the degree of unanimity.
Vern: I am also curious to know the mechanisms by which the properties of comb materials perceptibly affect "volume, tone, response, bending, overblow and general playability".....on a scale of 1 to 10!
SB:
Nobody has claimed there are any such mechanisms, we simply asked a bunch of top players to compare a fairly large (I think it was about 15) series of instruments which had been set up as close to identically as possible. We also swapped reed plates & combs around to eliminate errors through the the fact that one set of reeds was simply better than another. The main purpose of the test was to investigate reed profiles, the combs were secondary and no-one had an agenda to prove that any particular material was superior or inferior,
Steve
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