Re: [Harp-L] Minor keyed harp 1988? -Orchester

[Burke Trieschmann <burket@xxxxxxx>]

 Thanks for the post fjm.  I appreciate all the good info on Minor tuned harp that's been recently posted too.  My first Natural minors were also Lee Oksars, though I do have one in Em harmonic minor.  

I just finished tuning up / converting a few Marine Bands into natural minor tuning and really enjoyed hearing the N. Minor sound coming out of a Deluxe,  particularly on an A/  allowing me Am in first and Em in second position without having to switch harps.  Really nice for some fiddle tunes.
--
Your mention of the Orchester got me looking for an old Eb Minor Orchester I have, tuned to harmonic minor.  I was given this years ago, and its really a great sounding harmonica.  Held its tuning all these years and very responsive and airtight.  I looked at the comb thinking it was a predecessor of the Marine Band and it looked maybe the comb would swap out with Standard, Deluxe, or even Crossover combs if this one ever needed an upgrade.  The comb design is unique though in that the dividers on the comb teeth seem to be made out of some kind of metal?   And they wobble a bit.  I have not busted it open yet for a closer look.

If anyone of the harp lore experts here knows the quick history of the where the Orchester fits in the Hohner timeline and what sort of reedplates, parts, quality of setup they got, I would be very interested.  

Burke T. 


Message: 1
Date: Fri, 22 Mar 2013 07:43:23 -0700
From: fjm <bad_hat@xxxxxxxx>
Subject: Re: [Harp-L] Minor keyed harp 1988?
To: harp-l@xxxxxxxxxx
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On 3/21/13 12:18 PM, martin oldsberg wrote:
> I first picked up a harmonica in the mid 70ïs, and never so far seen an atom 
of a Hohner minor key, so perhaps they werenït any bigger hit.


The Hohner Orchesters of that era weren't natural minor, they were 
harmonic minor.  The first natural minor harmonicas I ever played were 
Lee Oskars. I did have 4-5 keys of the Orchesters previous to that.  I 
actually still have them.  I should get the plates installed on a more 
user friendly stable platform.  If I recall correctly the LO Nm 
harmonicas were available from the get go and if Steve says that was 30 
yrs ago I won't argue.  Clearly they pre-dated the video clip.  fjm