Re: [Harp-L] Chromatic Repair

[David Payne <dave@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

I'm positive that harmonica went more than 60 years without a parts change, except the comb but those changes you mentioned are what I was talking about with the frame. If you're just playing them, those sound like big changes and they sound like totally different harmonicas. If you are repairing them, they are not. For instance, I've never had a harmonica come in for a "mouthpiece repair" and drill patterns are irrelevant because you are repairing the reedplate that is already there. 99.999 of repairs I've ever had have been reeds (some need replaced, some not), and bumper tubes. Maybe 10 percent have also had cracked combs.  Slides, unless abused, are a non-wear item.
 Even if it's cross tuned, the slots are the same, thus the reeds still fit. Different reeds, they'll still fit. For example, Seydel steel reeds. There's no reason you can't put them in a wide slot prewar Bandmaster. There's a very finite number of different parts out there, especially within the same company and even with different companies. I don't think there is a single part on the prewar to alte 1940s Hugo Rauner internal spring chromatics that won't fit a modern Seydel Chromatic DeLuxe, even that unusual internal spring it has. 
I guess that kind of stuff is for the repair guys, but at the same time, the 280 was made for many, many years and I don't see why they couldn't be repaired. I can't imagine that they had run out of parts and I see no reason why modern reeds won't work in any of them, although I could see them turning down a comb repair. But, if you repair stuff, people don't have to buy new ones and that's a legitimate argument for not repairing something that you don't currently sell. 

 
David Payne
www.elkriverharmonicas.com
www.hetrickharmonica.com


________________________________
 From: Winslow Yerxa <winslowyerxa@xxxxxxxxx>
To: Harp L Harp L <harp-l@xxxxxxxxxx> 
Sent: Monday, December 3, 2012 12:30 PM
Subject: Re: [Harp-L] Chromatic Repair
 
The modern 280 is a completely different beast from the 1955 one:
 
-- Plastic comb, screwed together with reedplates vs. wood comb nailed
 
-- Cross tuned vs. straight tuned
 
-- Different slide
 
-- Different mouthpiece with screw holes in a different place
 
-- 2-piece slide assembly (back ing plate and slide) vs. 3-piece slide assembly (backplate, slide, cage aka U-channel)
 
And the recent (2005 and later) reeds are different as well.
 
Again, no manufacturer is going to stock parts for something they stopped making over 60 years ago. That's where custom repair guys (like you) fill the void.
 
During the 1960s if you sent a wood-combed 280 to Hohner for repair, they would just throw it away and send you a new plastic-combed 280.
 
Winslow
 
Winslow Yerxa
Author, Harmonica For Dummies, ISBN 978-0-470-33729-5
            Harmonica Basics For Dummies, ASIN B005KIYPFS
            Blues Harmonica For Dummies, ISBN 978-1-1182-5269-7
Resident Harmonica Expert, bluesharmonica.com
Instructor, Jazzschool for Music Study and Performance

From: David Payne <dave@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: Harp L Harp L <harp-l@xxxxxxxxxx> 
Sent: Monday, December 3, 2012 2:08 AM
Subject: Re: [Harp-L] Chromatic Repair

It is so close to a 280, there is no legitimate reason they can't repair it.

Winslow wrote: 
"Just for some perspective, the Chromonika III dates from 1955 and earlier - before there was such a thing as an Edsel. And no car manufacturer maintains a parts inventory for
 60-year old cars."


Yes, but, there aren't any auto companies who are making cars 60 years later without changing a single part except the frame. 
 

David Payne
http://www.elkriverharmonicas.com/
http://www.hetrickharmonica.com/
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