Re: [Harp-L] Quality & price discussion

[Tom Albanese <reedwrecker@xxxxxxxxx>]

 Steve and others,

I've tried many many different brands and models of diatonic harmonicas. For
the bulk of my years as a player I've relied mostly on Hohner products and
within that brand, mostly Marine Bands, both custom and out of the box. For
the last two years or so however, I veered off into Seydel 1847s. At first I
thought that I'd found something in the 1847s that would make me switch
brands permanently but after what I feel was a fair trial period I've
abandoned those and am back playing Hohners again. (Man this is getting
expensive!)

Times being what they are I really can't justify the expense of custom MBs
right now so I decided to try Marine Band Deluxe harps. Having read both
very positive and very negative comments on the MBD I considered it to be a
bit of a gamble to go that route, but I bought four of them anyway (ADG&C)
thinking what the hell, I need some new harps so I might as well roll the
dice. My initial impression is that I think they are very good harps. They
seem to be carefully crafted and respond quite well for me after a few
tweaks on the reeds. I have only one complaint/question: Why do the reed
plates protrude so far past the comb? I've been playing MBs for over 30
years and it's never been quite so apparent an issue to me. These MBDs have
reed plates that feel like dull knife blades in my mouth. Are they all like
that or did I just happen to get an odd batch? I've tried fine grit emery
cloth on them but after a few hundred strokes it didn't seem to make much
difference. What can I do to correct this issue? Thanks.

tom albanese

http://www.myspace.com/bigrealdeal