[Harp-L] Comb material- my take

[John Frazer <harmonicajohns@xxxxxxx>]

I believe that air-tightness and reed adjustment are the most critical
elements in the sound and playability of the harmonica. I participated in
the first combs test. No one could tell which harp was being played. They
could all tell it was me, though. Seriously, Vern has put a lot of effort
into the defense of his hypothesis. I believe he is correct. Comb material
has negligible effect on the sound.

It is like the amp debate. I will play through just about anyones rig and
have it sounding good. Another guy might get nothing but feedback or sound
thin. It is just the fact of life. Technique, practice, the gap in my teeth,
all contribute far more than any difference in cover plates.

BTW, still hoping for an out of town name player to be in San Diego April
23rd to join us for Spring Harp Fest XII. Charlie? Kim? Rod? Jason? Rob P?

Anyone headed this way?

Jon Gindick will be playing for sure.  Looking for a few top names.

Harmonica John Frazer

619-263-6826
Cel 619-709-2217

"Watch out! He has some sort of a fantastic instrument that lets out a death
sound!"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yYKuQ0vbfqU

http://www.springharpfest.org

To donate to Spring Harp Fest, click the link below

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On 9/4/10 4:20 AM, "harp-l-request@xxxxxxxxxx" <harp-l-request@xxxxxxxxxx>
wrote:

> From: Vern <jevern@xxxxxxx>
> Subject: Re: [Harp-L] The comb materials debate
> To: "H.T." <imanonimous@xxxxxxx>
> Cc: harp-l@xxxxxxxxxx
> Message-ID: <9C29C50D-225A-43DF-86A6-3C46C29AD3F0@xxxxxxx>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii
> 
> 
> On Sep 3, 2010, at 4:26 PM, H.T. wrote:
> 
>> Seems to be two fundamental questions in this debate:
>> 
>> 1. Does comb material affect tone?
>> 2. If so, can the affect be heard by humans?
>> 
>> I'm not familiar with the previous comb tests done at SPAH, but the
>> discussion has me wondering if there have been any tests using completely
>> off-the-wall comb materials like styrofoam, rubber, paper, cardboard, or
>> "Great Stuff" foam?  How about combs surfaced with a layer of felt inside the
>> reed chamber? If a radical departure to materials that seem, on the face of
>> it, to be completely inappropriate for harmonica combs demonstrates an
>> audible affect on tone, then THAT question would be settled and the
>> discussion could move on to just how much affect the various "normal"
>> materials have rather than an argument about whether there's any at all. I
>> would expect a styrofoam comb to sound like crap, but does
>> it?..................
>> 
> In the 1997 test, we used combs of concrete, balsa wood, lead, pear wood,
> titanium, foam plastic and ABS. We compared CX12 covers of black plastic and
> solid brass.  We had the harps blown by a machine and by John Walden.
> Thirty listeners could not discern any differences.
> 
> These were not tests to determine if there are minuscule differences in the
> comb spectrums. I assume that there are.  They were tests to find out if
> listeners could hear them. So far, no one has demonstrated that ability under
> controlled conditions.
> 
> Vern