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Dirty-South Blues Harp forum: wail on! >
Hering Master Blues -- are they great?
Hering Master Blues -- are they great?
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Martin
133 posts
Aug 28, 2012
3:46 PM
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There was a small price reduction on harps in a store near me and I decided to try a Hering Master Blues. Some 30% less expensive than the Black Blues.
I own a couple of Black Blues and a Silver Blues and find them ... well OK, but one of them went south really quick and was poorly tuned from the factory. Passable reed setup, though.
Th Master Blues has a wooden body, unlike the Black Blues (plastic of some sort, I think), and really wide protruding cover plates, very unpleasant and detrimental to getting a good sound.
But what was almost fascinating when I drew my first breath through it was that it practically didn´t sound at all. EXTREMELY leaky.
When I opened it up I found that all the screws could be tightened, even by using my fingers (!) and of course that helped a bit but it´s still impossibly leaky and hardly playable. A bit like the Hohner MB´s you got during the really bad years with that company.
Is this what´s to be expected from a Hering Master Blues -- in which case this is my first and last one, regardless of price?
Last Edited by on Aug 28, 2012 3:47 PM
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S-harp
63 posts
Aug 29, 2012
1:25 AM
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The quality from harp to harp differs more than say Hohner's midrange and up.
Some are great and too many are not, OOthebox.
Flat sand the comb and draw plate plus centering the reeds and gapping makes à big difference on the Master Blues with the wood comb. The cover plates are leaky too ... so file the edge flat (that lies in the reed plates groove)
Seal the comb ... It will twist and turn.
Then you can have an excellent harp in your hands ... or not, because sometimes all that work don't cut it.
So ... is it worth it?
I'd say no, unless it is very good to start with.
The reeds don't last that long either.
But I really like it's powerful and a bit crispy tone.
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The tone, the tone ... and the Tone
Last Edited by on Aug 29, 2012 1:26 AM
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Martin
135 posts
Aug 29, 2012
7:11 AM
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Thank you S-Harp. Since my competence in harmonica technology pretty much ends where it begins (I can re-tune and tighten screws, that´s it) I´ll take your advice and will just consider this one a mistake not to be repeated.
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barbequebob
2016 posts
Aug 29, 2012
8:11 AM
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One thin I recommend to all players with any harp is to inspect everything inside and out and tightening the screws is often something I find necessary BUT, make damned sure it's only HAND TIGHT and no more than that because if you overtighten the screws, you will strip the screws or even worse, the threads in the holes on the plate, and you can make that probelm much worse.
The slot tolerances aren't as tight as the new Hohners, Seydels, LO's, and Manji's are, but harps with tight slot tolerances require you to use LESS breath force or you can blow them out in a hurry, and so good breath control is ultra important and cannot be overemphasized.
The Master Blues is one of the few diatonics tuned today to 19 Limit Just Intonation.
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Sincerely,
Barbeque Bob Maglinte
Boston, MA
http://www.barbequebob.com
CD available at http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/bbmaglinte
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Pistolcat
287 posts
Aug 29, 2012
8:33 AM
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I have a pair of hearing master blues that are, indeed, leaky. When I removed the reedplates they were bent like bananas, all four of them... Pieces of c**p. On the other hand, I have a hearing vintage harp in F that I really like...
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Pistolkatt - Pistolkatts youtube
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