[Harp-L] Chromatics for Sale and My Frankenstein Moment

[Emily Keene]

I am divesting myself of my collection of used Hohner Super Chromonicas in
a variety of keys. Why? I'll get to that later. The keys are A, Bb, D, E,
Eb, E, F, and G. With the exception of the D, they are lightly used, though
some of them are a little aged, having been purchased from the Farrell
company in Chicago. The "A" has a split comb on the lowest hole, but the
others seem to be fine. Also included are a bunch of old covers and some
slide parts. The "D" has a Lucite aftermarket comb that is beautifully made
except that it's a little off center on the bottom plate and I get some
windsaver flutter. Anyhoo, the whole thing is going for $150, plus $12 for
shipping, although I might be open to trading for an electric bass.

Now, the reason why I'm selling these: I had a life-changing experience in
which I discovered the circular tuning and the Seydel company. Since my
main interest is playing fiddle tunes (I used to play the fiddle on a
more-or-less professional basis until I came down with focal dystonia in my
bowing arm), I had them configure several circular tuned diatonics to match
the fiddle range and they've worked out perfectly for what I want to do.
One of the best of the configurations is what I call my "Galax" tuning in
"D" which starts on a "G" blow and works its way up in the "D" scale
without the skips of the Richter tuning or the repeats of the usual "solo"
tuning. I became so accustomed to it that I had them configure a chromatic
in the same range, and then, in the fashion of the great Irish player Eddie
Clarke, had them configure the chromatic half step down instead of up. I
love the sound of the half-step down and in the circular tuning it gives a
lot of  possibilities besides the great triplets Eddie Clarke got, as it
makes for some very pretty parallel thirds ala Flaco Jimenez. I mostly play
Irish stuff out of "D" (with the related keys such as one plays on a trad
flute or whistle), but I'm slowly building a collection of this
configuration for playing  non-Celtic, Old-Time, and Bluegrass music, which
sometimes I am forced to under duress. Questions welcome. Cheers, emily