[Harp-L] Original Hohner Pro Harp/painted covers

["John F. Potts" <hvyj@xxxxxxx>]

I must have missed the sarcasm in this:  "Notice that the shiny  
covers give a bright
sound and the black covers give a dark sound-"

Maybe my old friends were right to laugh at me.  But, FWIW, both  
Antony Dannecker (a Hohner devotee) and Os Leguisimo (at  Suzuki  
customer service) have each told me separately that harmonicas with  
painted covers have a darker tone because the paint dampens the  
resonance of the cover plates.  I also asked Steve Baker about this  
and he was not sure, but said the paint would dampen the resonance of  
the cover plates which might have an effect on tone.

i certainly respect Pat Missin's findings, but I would tend to  
believe Mr. Dannecker and Os must have some basis for their  
respective opinions. They both should be in a position to know more  
about this stuff than i do, and neither of them would have been  
motivated to tell me what i wanted to hear, since I made the inquiry  
with an open question when i asked each of them about it. Now, I'm  
not sure what to think...

Be that as it may, I still like the dark tone of my  
Hammonds....whether or not the painted covers have anything to do  
with it.

JP