Re: [Harp-L] How a Gang of Harmonica Geeks Saved the Soul of the Blues Harp | Collectors Weekly

[Joseph Leone <3n037@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

The idea on Marine Bands was to:

1... Take them apart. One reed plate at a time.
2... Cut an emory board in half.
3... Ease (break in machinists parlance) the edges of the tines. Don't overdo it.
4... Take the plate that was removed and ease the edge of the plate that was under the cover.
5... Replace that plate. And cover.
6... Take off the other plate and ease that edge. 
7... Assemble harp. Rub Vick's Vapo rub on the eased comb edges. It kept the moisture out. 
8... IF cover plates not perfect run a tiny bead of Elmer's glue and run it in with finger tip, wipe with wet tissue, let dry, and you're good to go. 

I never cut my lips, but if one wasn't shaved correctly the corners of the mouth WOULD get abraded. No matter what.
When I switched to spl-20s, I never had another problem and could delete ALL of the above. 

For 270 chromos. Run the emory board at 45 degree angle on ALL 48 edges of the 12 mouthpiece openings. Case solved. lolol 

smo-joe

On Aug 26, 2013, at 11:39 PM, Richard Hunter wrote:

> Robert Hale wrote:
> <After you get past the knucklehead journalist nonsense of the outsider in
> <the first paragraph, it's a good article!
> <
> <But "bloody lips" ?        Naaa.
> 
> The bloody lips part is pretty accurate.  In the bad old days (1970s-80s), wooden comb teeth would swell unevenly, and the portruding teeth would cut lips. The corners of the mouth were especially vulnerable.  I bled on more than a few gigs in those days.  Did I mention that sharp edges on the square holes on model 260-270 chromatics were also a frequent cause of injury?
> 
> Harmonicas are much better now.
> 
> Regards, Richard Hunter
> 
> 
> 
> author, "Jazz Harp" 
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