[Harp-L] Comb Materials

Harping On harping.onandon@xxxxx
Sun May 15 12:48:38 EDT 2016


It is not my intention to muddy already murky waters but here just for possible interest are 4 short samples of 4 different diatonic Harmonicas in the key of Bb. The composite parts of all harps have differences in design so it is not a comb comparison as they are only one of the components.

 

https://youtu.be/HOPuwdCwBnM

 

 

1. Suzuki Promaster - Aluminum comb - Phosphor Bronze reeds

 

2. Hohner Special - 20 ABS comb - Brass reeds and reed plates

 

3. Suzuki Manji - Resin Comb - Phosphor Bronze reeds

 

4. Hohner Marine Band - Brass reeds and reed plates

 

Even with four different harps the difference is tone is marginal. I can hear differences but if I just heard just one of these harps played at random I would be hard pressed to put a brand name/model to it. (It's not in the Stratocaster/ Les Paul territory)

 

They certainly sounded and felt different when playing them but  I found myself making adjustments in my playing to compensate for the playing properties of the harps i.e. more power, less power, harder bending etc as required.,  

 

My Sp20 has always been good and very comfortable to play. My Promaster has a hard to bend draw 3. The Manji was a little difficult to dig into and even more so was the MB which felt a bit old and underpowered. However I found myself making adjustments on the fly in playing these samples consecutively.

 

The sound has gone through the mincer of Youtube compression so it's not going to sound like if you were in the room listening to it live. 



Best wishes




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