Re: [Harp-L] RE: blown out harps

["steve@xxxxxxxxxxxx" <swebb@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

It's an interesting question, though. I have played pretty steadily on weekends the past two years and have yet to blow out a harp. I was playing thru the PA with an SM58, but bought a Harmonica Honker and used that the last few months. I do play pretty hard sometimes. My gig harps are SP20s and Bushman. I switched out one SP20 because I had a newer one that was more in tune, but otherwise, I'm going to blow these harps until they blow.
I do understand that blues guys in a loud amplified band are more likely to wreck a harp than with the acoustic style our band has.
Steve Webb in Minn.

---- Bill Otten <harpman54@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote: 
> Rick Davis asked: 
> >For you who play amped harp on a regular basis, I have a question:  How
> >often do you blow out a reed in a harp?  How many harps do you buy per
> >month?  Do you write your harps off your taxes?
> >What can we do to lessen the costs?  Play softer.  Take better care of our
> >harps.  Learn the Zen of Harmonica Maintenance.  What do you suggest?
> 
> Well Rick....in over 15 years of playing semi-professionally, I have had ONE
> (1) reed break on a harp. 
> And I don't play lullabys and minuets either. Amped harp, and therein lies
> the secret...let the AMP do
> the work. Tight cup around the harp, around the mic, everything goes into
> the amp. Yes, I do blow harp
> with attack, and do bear down, so maybe I've been lucky? But I simply
> haven't blown out but a single reed
> in that time. I do break the harps in slowly, keep them clean (but not
> obsessive about any cleaning schedule),
> and that's about it. I haven't bought a harp in over a year or longer and
> don't write them off my taxes
> because harp playing isn't my work gig...it's a pasttime for me. I'll be
> interested in what others have to 
> say because I'm sure my situation isn't typical. I can't even pinpoint my
> harp durability to a single manufacturer
> either, because in my stage case you can find Lee Oskar's, Hohner's, and
> Suzuki harps. I CAN tell you that I
> valve a lot of my harps, and there are valved models of each of the above
> manufacturers in my case. I bend a LOT
> of notes so I'm certainly not shy about playing hard. 
> 
> Bill Otten
> 
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