[Harp-L] Brendan and Vern

[bren@xxxxx]

Thanks for those interesting assessments of the various possibilities  
for making reedplates Tom. Like you, I have put making reeds and  
reedplates into the 'too hard' category - for now at least.

But since the superfine reed/slot tolerances obtainable through hand  
customising
have not yet been achieved with present manufacturing methods, there  
remains the potential to improve by some technological step that will  
give us custom grade reedplates out of the box. That would be  
something! After nearly 200 years of harmonica making, surely in the  
21st century we can make that step? I live in hope...

Harp-L is a wonderful forum, the oldest and the best in many ways. The  
only thing I would wish is that you can go back and edit posts, for  
typos, fixing mistakes, and also moderating intemperate language in  
the light of later reflection...

I wished for that editing function in one if my recent posts to Vern,  
which was a bit strong! But, as John Paul Getty used to say, 'Oils  
well that ends swell'.

(Actually he didn't, I just made it up, but you get the drift).

Nice to be chatting on this great old list with clever, experienced  
people of different hues and views. Thanks to those who keep it going  
:-)

Brendan



Quoting Tom Halchak <info at xxxxx>:

> Here are a few random thoughts about some of the lively debates that have
> transpired on harp-l in the past few days.
>
> To Brendan Power – THANK YOU for blowing the lid off the ill-fated comb
> experiment at SPAH 2010.  Thank you for being the Mad Scientist Innovator
> that you are.  In the past few years, you have single-handedly come up with
> more new ideas for the harmonica than everyone else on the planet
> combined.
>
> Whereas Vern practices pseudoscience, arguing that bumblebees can’t fly,
> comb material has no affect on tone and precision reed work yields no
> measurable effect on response, and Brendan practices Voodoo Witchcraft to
> conjure up radical concepts, I operate in the Real World.
>
> In the Real World, The Market is genius.   In the Real World, people vote
> with their wallets.
>
> I started making Custom Harmonica Combs just over 8 years ago and Custom
> Harmonicas about 5 years ago.  I did not invent custom combs and then set
> out to convince harmonica players that they needed them.  Quite the
> opposite.  Eleven years ago, when I first discovered the hallowed pages of
> harp-l, I noticed that harmonica players have an insatiable appetite for
> custom combs and that nobody at that time was doing a particularly good job
> meeting that demand.   Back then, custom combs were made to order, took
> months to get and often the quality was suspect.  I saw an opportunity.  I
> had a novel concept.  How about if I make them first, using
> state-of-the-art technology, and THEN offer them for sale?  I started
> offering them on eBay and was immediately swarmed by harmonica players all
> over the world.  It quickly became a collaborative effort with harmonica
> enthusiasts providing valuable feedback about how to improve the quality,
> which brands/models to make and which materials to offer.  All I did was
> listen to them and give them what they wanted.  It was and still is, more
> them convincing me to meet their demands than me convincing them to buy my
> products.  All my combs are CNC Machined and I make them out of Exotic
> Hardwoods, Corian, Acrylic, Aircraft Grade Aluminum, Brass and Phenolic
> Resins.  I have also tried many other materials which proved impractical
> for one reason or another.  In the past 8 years, I have sold thousands upon
> thousands of custom combs.  Thousands.  The pattern is always the same.  A
> customer will try one or two combs to see what all the fuss is about.
> After installing the combs on their harps, amazed by the improvement, they
> immediately order more.  They’re like Lays Potato Chips – nobody can eat
> just one.  The same is true for custom harps, built on my custom combs and
> using the tried and true reedsmithing principles that have become the
> staple of harmonica customizers around the world.
>
> And so, my evidence is not scientific, and it is not theoretical.  It is
> Real World, where the rubber meets the road, where people spend their
> hard-earned money.  I have had thousands of conversations with harmonica
> enthusiasts all over the world - both amateur and professional.  Her is
> what they tell me, over and over again.
>
> 1.       Custom combs make a positive difference.
>
> 2.       Comb Material affects the tone of the harmonica.
>
> 3.       Custom Harmonicas play better than stock harmonicas.
>
> It is as simple as that.  Unless we are to believe that thousands of
> harmonica players are suffering from some form of mass delusion, I would
> submit to you that the feedback I have received from my customer base is
> the largest body of data dealing with this subject.
>
> Please understand that I don’t want this to be a big commercial for Blue
> Moon Harmonicas.  Unfortunately, there is a lot of misinformation on the
> forums, Facebook, etc.  Almost all of it is hearsay.  Somebody who didn’t
> know what they were talking about wrote something and others picked up it
> and started repeating it and pretty soon it became settled science.  I’m
> just giving you information based upon real experience.  I’ve lived it.
>
> Shifting gears, someone asked about using laser or other modern
> technologies to cut precision components.  Trust me when I tell you that I
> have researched every possible technology for making reed plates including
> CNC Milling, Laser, Wire EDM, Water Jet and Acid Etching.  There is an
> inherent problem with all of them and that is that the cutting tool is
> round and cannot cut a perfectly square inside right angle.  There will
> always be a radius to the cut.  A CNC End Mill is round. A Laser Beam is
> round.  A Wire is round.  A Water Jet is Round.  You cannot cut a square
> inside corner using a round tool.  In addition, Lasers, Water Jet and Acid
> Etching all lose power as they cut through material.  It limits the
> thickness of the material you can accurately cut.  A laser beam will
> decrease in strength, diameter and cutting power as it cuts through metal,
> meaning that the resulting slot cut in a plate is wider at the top where
> the beam is strongest and narrower at the bottom where the beam is weaker
> and smaller in diameter.  In addition, the cut is jagged.  It is not this
> smooth flawless cut that we imagine.  Harrison Harmonicas used Wire EDM to
> cut their reed plates.  Under magnification, the insides of the slots look
> like serrated knives and the tips of the reeds have to be dog eared to
> avoid snagging on the radiused corners of the slots.
>
> The reality that the best method of making reed plates is Fine Metal
> Blanking – not stamping as many people believe. Stamping leaves a burr on
> the back side of the cut, which then requires an additional step to
> remove.  Fine Metal Blanking cuts from both sides of the metal
> simultaneously leaving no burr.  The plate that comes off the cutting table
> is a finished product requiring no additional work.  Every custom harmonica
> player would love to make harmonicas that are 100% own brand.  We can make
> combs and covers, but reed plates are the Holy Grail.  It is cost
> prohibitive.  The Fine Metal Blanking stamps necessary to make a reed plate
> cost about $50,000 each to make and then you have to deal with making 80+
> different reeds, then paying people to mount them on reed plates, then
> tune, etc. etc. etc.  It is far better and more economical to just buy the
> reed plates from your manufacturer of choice and work your magic to improve
> them.  It really is a moot point.  Trust me on this.
>
> Thanks again to Brendan and Vern for keeping us entertained.
>
> *Tom Halchak*
> *Blue Moon Harmonicas LLC*
> *P.O. Box 14401 Clearwater, FL 33766*
> *(727) 366-2608*