[Harp-L] Re: Hohner response to Pat Powers post

[Rick Epping <rickepping@xxxxxxxxx>]

Hi Pat,

Comb designs which have an exposed front edge of the reed plate usually have
larger mouthpiece holes than comb designs like the Special 20, which have
recessed reed plates.  Special 20 mouthpiece openings have an area of about
18.8 sq mm, MS harp openings are about 23.0 sq mm, and Marine Band 1896
openings are about 24.6 sq mm.  So MS mouthpiece holes have over 22% greater
surface area than Special 20 holes, while Marine Band holes are over 30%
greater than Special 20 holes.

Using the same breath pressure, airflow entering the smaller openings in the
Special 20 should be accelerated more than the air entering an MS harp or a
Marine Band, which may help account for the Special 20's good reed response.
 But the smaller holes in the Special 20 also result in a lower volume of
airflow (cu. mm / sec), which reduces the potential volume, or loudness of
the instrument.

I enjoy playing all of these instruments; I especially like the Marine Band
for loud, hard-driving tunes and the Special 20 for softer music.  I
wouldn't want to give up either design.

Rick

>
>
> Message: 5
> Date: Fri, 27 Aug 2010 15:20:18 -0400
> From: "Patrick Powers" <patpowers@xxxxxxxxxxx>
> Subject: RE: [Harp-L] FW: Hohner response to Pat Powers post
> To: "'Andy Garrigue'" <AGarrigue@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>, <harp-l@xxxxxxxxxx>
> Message-ID: <001501cb461c$e35e0750$2b01a8c0@dell2400>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII
>
> Hi Andy,
>
> Sorry for the confusion.  The Pro-50 was a totally different product
> form somebody else.  I meant to rant about your MS-series (Cross Harp,
> Big River Harp, Pro Harp, Blues Harp). I had just played a gig with a
> blues Harp and pulled a mustache hair with it while I was playing, which
> hurt like hell, and then I  had to finish the song with a freaking
> mustache hair sticking out of it. I just don't understand why you would
> want the sharp edge of a reed plate sticking out like that.
>
> Can you or anybody on this list educate me on the purpose on this
> design?
> Anybody care to voice their opinion of the reed plate design???
>
>