Re: [Harp-L] Light box for reed work

[Joseph Leone <3n037@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

On Jan 10, 2015, at 4:36 PM, Brendan Power wrote:

> Joe Leone wrote, in response to my praise of Richard Sleigh's embossing
> videos/info:
> 
> " Don't hold back Brendan...tell us how you REALLY feel." s.j
> 
> Not sure what you're trying to imply by that, Joe... To postulate: 

I'm wholeheartedly agreeing with you. Rich is one of the most under the radar people I have ever known. The EPITOME of 'stand up guy'. 
> 
> Being primarily a chromatic player and therefore maybe not so well informed
> on diatonic matters, perhaps you think I'm making too much of Richard
> Sleigh's online information regarding reed slot embossing.

Nope not at all. Not at all. Richard is a hero of mine. Simply because he is him. No bragadocio, no pretenses, quiet, mild mannered, and what I would call 'A country gentleman'. 

> But if you understood the virtual code of silence that has ruled in this area amongst
> top practitioners for many years, you would appreciate how significant
> Richard's openness is.

Ha ha ha, trust me, I DO understand. I hung around with Gerri Muradian (Jerry Murad) and he didn't divulge ANYthing. lol. We would sit at his work bench doing things, and he 
would attempt to hide what he was doing. Whereas I was totally open. Didn't have anything to hide. Didn't care. Maybe you noticed that over the last 15 years I have been 
on harp-l and slidemeister. ( I am more active on slidemeister). Oh, and I play both instruments. 

> I gather that some other pro customizers disapprove
> of giving away this level of detail, so he is being quite brave to 'break
> ranks' in this way.

Right. My spies tell me that perhaps he gives away TOO much. 

> I know it's something he didn't do lightly, and I feel
> he deserves credit for not only the amount of information he's putting out,
> but also its high quality. I was simply highlighting the fact that he's
> offering the harmonica world a wonderful new resource.

Uh-huh. And I agree. I have watched a lot of videos on repairs. Am familiar with repairs. Also impressed with Kinya Pollard. Most of my methods would qualify as 'quick & dirty'.
I persist in doing things with practically nothing at all. My wife once said that one day I would make something out of absolutely nothing at all. At which point we would all be in 
trouble as there would be a rip in the time continuum.   
> 
> I should add that there is one other VERY important person who has been very
> generous with his knowledge in this critical area of harmonica performance:
> Rick Epping.

Absolutely. We have had a good repore over the years. He is one of the few big names that actually pay any attention to me. Another was the late great Doug Tate. True, I have no 
'name' (so to speak) in the harmonica world, but I have bee at it a long time. Chortle. 

> Rick was the very first to emboss harmonica reed slots. He
> termed it burnishing, and strictly speaking we should honour that by
> re-adopting Rick's name for the process he invented. 

I agree. And I once made a stainless steel reed out of a Wilkinson sword razor blade. There are a lot of tinkerers out there. YOU happen to be at the top of my list. 
> 
> You can read his story of how he came up with the harmonica slot burnishing
> idea here, in his own words:

Burnishing makes a lot of sense. Cutting reeds AND slots both require cutting to certain parameters. Like so many thousands plus or minus. It makes sense that the original parts should
be made so as to fit right from the start. . THEN a magician (like Rick, Rich, Joe, Joe, or yourself), can adjust the 'rest' of the way. 

smo-joe / at 'The Roadhouse' Sanibel causeway. Bring a co-signer..prices are, shall we say, up there. 

P.S. I love your new inventions. I always like what you do. 
> 
> http://brendan-power.com/harpgeeks.php#geeks3
> 
> 
> Brendan
> www.brendan-power.com
> www.YouTube.com/BrendanPowerMusic
> 
> 
>