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Blank Covers
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nacoran
6129 posts
Oct 07, 2012
2:55 PM
Does anyone know if any of the manufacturers sell unlabeled, regular thickness covers? (I've seen some cheap novelty ones that you can get a company name engraved on, but I'm looking for something that after engraving would actually survive everyday use.) The only quality covers I've seen without the big vendors logos is the Dannecker covers I've seen online. (I'm going to email them and see if they have any leads.)

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Nate
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1847
271 posts
Oct 07, 2012
8:14 PM
http://www.goldharmonica.com/
gold plated to boot
careful what you ask for lol
STME58
248 posts
Oct 07, 2012
8:46 PM
My Conn Constelation trombone came with a gold plated mouthpiece. It is my favorite mouthpice but I am not sure how much the gold has to do with it. why not a glod plated harmonica mouthpiece, if you convince youself it plays better, it just might!
nacoran
6130 posts
Oct 07, 2012
8:56 PM
The gold plating got really bad reviews from Jason Ricci.

http://www.modernbluesharmonica.com/board/board_topic/5560960/505734.htm

I contacted Lee Oskar, and they said they don't make them blank, the same process that stamps the general shape stamps the logo. I know Dannecker has custom covers, but they may well do it the same way. I'll check around with a couple of the other manufacturers, but if they do it the same way it may be a universal issue.



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Nate
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ElkRiverHarmonicas
1320 posts
Oct 07, 2012
9:17 PM
It's a universal issue. B-radicals, could in theory, be done blank - and I do have one with blank, gold-plated covers (the only one done that way). They were laser etched afterwards.
Normal coverplates are stamped with a die that already has the writing on it. Thus, for the coverplate to exist, it has writing on it. To make a blank coverplate, a typical company would have to have a blank coverplate die, which is expensive to make and they have no reason to make it.


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David

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At the time of his birth, it was widely accepted that no one man could play that much music so well or raise that much hell. He proved them all wrong.
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nacoran
6131 posts
Oct 08, 2012
10:49 AM
Noodles, unfortunately I'm not sure I'd trust the company after the problems Jason had with them. STME58, that might be a good solution for a long term solution to the product missing from the market, but unfortunately I'm in a bit of a time crunch. My friend is doing groomsman gifts. All the other groomsmen like sharp pointy things, but me, I'm a harper, not a fighter, and he was wondering about an engraved harp for me. Long term though, I really do think blank covers make sense. I wonder if maybe one of the companies could donate their old worn out stamps to someone with a press (I'm just making up words for machines now!) I'd assume the worn out stamp could be sanded down to remove the remaining design, and recycled into a blank cover.
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Nate
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florida-trader
192 posts
Oct 08, 2012
11:08 AM
Nathan:
I have made something along those lines for a customer. I had an inscription laser etched into a powder coated cover plate. A couple of the colors that I use essentially obscure the stamped in letters to the point that they are almost indistinguishable. We laser etched some lyrics to a country song, "God is Great. Beer is good, and People are Crazy!" We used a set of Moon Stone covers and filled the laser engraving in with black paint. It came out nice. Let me know if I can help.
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Tom Halchak
www.BlueMoonHarmonicas.com
HarpNinja
2735 posts
Oct 08, 2012
11:11 AM
I am fairly sure Seydel and Hohner have options for LARGE runs of plates in certain models. Jim has True Chromatic covers, for example. I would imagine, though, they'd require huge runs.
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Mike
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nacoran
6132 posts
Oct 08, 2012
12:00 PM
Tom, I'll check with the groom and see if that will work.

Ninja, (or do you prefer Mike, I've been calling you Ninja all these years), blanks would be particularly useful though, since you could take them to get your own engraving done, which would open things up for lots more custom options. You'd want solid plates, not steel plated nickel, since you'd be engraving down. I've wondered about those shops at malls that will engrave anything, including photos, onto things. I don't know if they have the ability to deal with an irregular surface. Some harps, have large flat areas, but some don't...

I googled around a bit, and a couple places seem to have blanks, but they seem to link back to the guy Jason had problems with.

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Nate
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HarpNinja
2737 posts
Oct 08, 2012
12:13 PM
You can get the SP20 style fairly easily...even 7-8 years ago. I *think* Hohner said they came in sets of 500? I emailed Jim to see if he had suggestions on how he got his.

I think, and I am only speculating, that this is harder to do in the States then overseas for some reason. I keep trying to get into full length and relatively closed back covers - SP20, GM, Session Steel, Promaster, etc. I just can't. They sound fine acoustically, but they feel sluggish and sound muddy, IMO, amped. I just like loud and clear as I can always dampen that tone with my hands or rig.

If Marine Band or 1847 or Manji style covers came blank, that'd be awesome. I know others make their own covers out of wood and such, but steel is where it is at.

Mike or Ninja is fine. I respond to both, lol.
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Mike
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Jehosaphat
309 posts
Oct 08, 2012
2:08 PM
The Hohner MS Cross harp doesn't have any thing etched onto its(black) coverplates.
Just a painted ? on logo which wears off in about two weeks lol.
Actually i don't know if they still make them?Although they are available on the Dannecker site.
nacoran
6135 posts
Oct 08, 2012
11:55 PM
Jehosaphat, that's actually encouraging... that means they might have the plates handy! I wonder if paint thinner would hurry things along... I looked online and it looks like they have two versions of the covers, one painted, one stamped.

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Nate
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Last Edited by on Oct 08, 2012 11:57 PM
nacoran
6137 posts
Oct 09, 2012
12:20 PM
Seydel can do blank covers!

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Nate
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