I have seen wooden coverplates on harmonica's made by a French company called Brodur. But I don't think they sell the coverplates separately.
I think you would have to buy the complete harmonica and they are not that cheap, selling from 250 to 290 Euros. They look great and use exotic and precious woods. Never tried one though so don't know what they're like.
Here is a link to the site selling them in the UK. LINK
Here is a video by a French guy called Paul Lassey showing a range of these harps and playing one of them.
He seems to still be in the feeling it out stage as for as the business end of it. I emailed him back and forth a couple times, but I was really broke at the time.
edit- just click through to YouTube and email him there. :) He seemed like a nice guy.
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Last Edited by on Mar 18, 2012 12:37 PM
The French guy and the pure harp are way way of my budget, I was looking for something cheaper.
One question: Why it seems that there is not too much interest on this type of cover plates?? to me they are very attractive, and I am pretty sure that the have some effect on the sound of the harp.
I have a pure harp in C--I don't particularly like it. Some people say cover material makes no difference, but i think the wood covers have a dull (not as bright or crisp) tone.
i dunno aluminum is what reso cones are made of. the old pro harps harps had a really good sound not that tinny shrill pencil in your ear. i heard the pureharp and the tone is very warm but i think rosewood isnt the right material.
"Why it seems that there is not too much interest on this type of cover plates??"
Because everyone is too busy debating over comb materials. The covers affect the tone much more than the comb. I've been waiting a long time for someone to offer custom (metal) cover plates.
Todd, the other part is I suspect cover plates require different machines. Wood ones, even on a CNC would take a lot more planning, and there are a lot more variables that might affect the tone dramatically. Plastic might be easier. Metal would either have to be done on a CNC or stamped. It would be time consuming on a CNC and most garage workshops don't have the machine to stamp them. :(
Your right. I'd love to see more custom covers. Wood, plastic, metal, maybe even stone. At one point I got it into my head I was going to try to figure out how to decoupage with some sort of shellac on covers, but I never had the money, time and ambition at the same time. (I wanted, and still want, harmonicas that look like candy bars!)
There are some tone questions I'd like to see addressed too. I have no idea what would happen, but what if the covers had dividers so air from one chamber wouldn't spread over the top of the harmonica? Would it change how responsive harps are? Could you make a hybrid cover with plastic outsides (in my opinion the most comfortable on the lips) and metal on the inside (plastic covers are really quiet)?
The easiest way might be with those 3D printers. You could print plastic covers fairly easily and cheaply, at least relatively to the price of a harmonica, I suspect it's much more expensive than form injection or however they do it, but the difference between a few cents or a few dollars wouldn't be that much for custom covers.
