[Harp-L] Re: Subject: Re: Cracked chromatic combs

[MundHarp@xxxxxxx]

I've had lots of wooden chromatic combs crack over the years, but have  
never had this problem with wooden comb diatonic harmonicas. 
 
Back in the 1960s, when I was mostly playing 10 and 12 hole pearwood comb  
diatonic Hohners, the wood used to swell up and rip my lips to pieces 
everytime  I played. However the combs never actually cracked.
 
Modern harmonicas are very much better than harps were back then. I like  
the dousie wood comb on the Hohner MS Blues Harp, that really seems a much 
more  stable comb material than pear wood.
 
"Sticking and popping" windsavers/valves is a real problem, with chromatic  
harmonicas. But (for example) the widsavers used by _www.harponline.de_ 
(http://www.harponline.de)  in their custom chromatic  instruments ( And sold 
as spare parts by them) are much better than the regular  Hohner ones. When 
performing I often keep the chromatic harmonicas that I intend  to use on the 
top of my valve/tube amplifier, & that keeps them nice and  warm, and much 
less likely to "pop". 
 
Of course, this is not always an option, and here in tropical south-east  
Asia it's warm and damp pretty well all the time anyway, which seems more  
friendly to chromatic harmonica valves, than colder climates.
 
John "Whiteboy" Walden
Cebu City
Philippines