[Harp-L] Brendan and Vern

[Rick Dempster]

Hmm....what about having reeds/slots that are round at the tip?

On Friday, 18 January 2019, Ben Bouman <benbouman16 at xxxxx> wrote:

> Thank you Tom for this big KIS!
>
> If we all Keep It Simple harmonica life would be much better/easier!
>
> Ben Bouman
>
> > Op 17 jan. 2019, om 15:39 heeft Tom Halchak <info at xxxxx>
> het volgende geschreven:
> >
> > 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*
>
> Kindest regards, met vriendelijke groeten,
>
> Ben Bouman
>
> www.benboumanharmonicas.com <http://www.benboumanharmonicas.com/>
> www.harmonicainstituut.nl <http://www.harmonicainstituut.nl/>
> www.marbletones.com <http://www.marbletones.com/>
> www.marble-amps.com <http://www.marble-amps.com/>
>
>
>