Re: [Harp-L] What Cover-Plates Don't Do

[Larry Sandy <slyou65@xxxxxxxxx>]

Hi JR,

No disagreement here.  I have read others' posts and just want to toss in my 2 cents, which are not worth a nickel.  I am loving brass combs after I seal them perfectly but with the covers off of course they don't sound so great to me- haven't tried recording yet. 

 As for the covers themselves, some customizers open them and reshape them more open sometimes for better projection, and open the ends a little so the player can hear his playing better... but the audience likely does not hear any difference with them, unless the tones are not picked up by the mic as clearly. 

 However, having agreed with most of the posts I still have beliefs that wood and plastic covers sound differently to the audience than do metal covers.  My wife says she can hear a difference when I pull out my Turbo covers... they're warmer she says, without knowing I am playing through them.  

Regarding more or less rigid metal combs.... Sure we feel the vibrations with our hands and mouth but tight cupping surely would dull any tone the vibrations would have possibly projected.  Not so sure on racked harps.

This is an interesting post and I hope it yields even more information before it retires.

Lockjaw Larry

> 
> So, cover-plates don't significantly affect the timbre of
> the harmonica (with noted exceptions which prove the rule
> for traditional designs).
> 
> What do cover-plates do.  I'm not really sure
> either.  Certainly they can be comfortable or not,
> which is important--comfort being the most likely reason why
> they were introduced to the harmonica in the first
> place.  Possibly they can have a directional impact to
> the sound of the harmonica, but I wouldn't overstate that
> and most likely the listener would be less effected than the
> player in these cases.  But for the most part, it's
> easier to say what the covers don't do than what they
> actually do.
> 
> 
> 
> JR Ross
> 
> 
>