Re: [Harp-L] Wood 270 comb report

[joe leone <3n037@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

On Jun 14, 2010, at 7:34 AM, MundHarp@xxxxxxx wrote:

> I've been back in the Philippines for nearly a month, after a  
> couple of
> months based in the "Valley of the Sun" in Phoenix Arizona, USA.
> The temperature during the day in Phoenix is often 100 degrees F...  
> And it
> rarely goes below 90 degrees F here, in Cebu City, RP...
> The difference is humidity. The Philippines is a damp place,  
> Phoenix is not
>  a damp place! Phoenix is in the middle of the Arizona desert.
> My chromatic harmonica "axe" of choice is the Hohner Super  
> Chromonica...
> The "270". This harp comes as standard, with a pear wood comb. I  
> have a set
> of  13 harps, one in every major key. That is how I make my music.  
> (I also
> play  diatonic, and favour Hohner MS harps).
> After a month in the Arizona "Valley of the sun", FOUR of my  
> chrom's combs
> "split".... The harmonicas simply dried out.

You're lucky YOU didn't split. I have been there. My lips and  
KNUCKLES split. So I checked my 'doopa' but it was alright.
smo-joe (in soup bowl Florida)

> Michael Timler at _www.harponline.de_ (http://www.harponline.de)   
> has fixed
> one of them  for me. Thanks Michael!
> But now I'm back, residing in a "tropical rainforest" in south-east
> Asia.... The other 3 chromatic harps (although still split) have  
> regained
> moisture. And have re-sealed themselves!
> OK... I LOVE "270s".
> But if, as a harmonica player, you plan to commute between the Arizona
> desert at 100 degrees and the Arizona mountains at 30 degrees F,  
> and then go
> back to a tropical rain forest.
> My suggestion is... Don't use harps with pear wood combs... Go for
> plexiglass, plastic or stainless steel.
> When I get the money together, I'm going to re-comb all of my 270s.
> Having in the past, lived in southern Florida, as well as in sunny  
> Trinidad
>  and Tobago... I should have learnt my lesson by now.
> And no, I don't think that the harmonicas comb material has any  
> significant
>  effect, to the audience!
>
> John "Whiteboy" Walden
> English harmonica player,
> Now residing in:
> Cebu City
> Philippines.