florida-trader
342 posts
Aug 22, 2013
10:17 AM
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I’m sure everyone is dying to know what happened at The Great Comb Debate at SPAH last week. (NOT!) Well, I hope at least a few of you are curious.
It’s going to be difficult for me to keep this simple but I will do my best. I hope that those who participated will contribute to this thread and do most of the talking.
To review – if you asked 10 people to set up a workshop to test the tonal qualities of harmonica combs you would probably get 10 different ideas on how to do it. Here’s how I did it.
I ordered 15 brand new harmonicas from Hohner (5 Golden Melodys in D, 5 Marine Band Deluxes in A and 5 Crossovers in C) and 5 Suzuki Manjis in A to use in the tests. I kept one of each of the harps stock and installed Corian, Aluminum, Acrylic and Brass combs on the other four. So basically 20 new out of the box harps. I was honored to have four celebrity guests demonstrate the harps – Todd Parrott (GMs), Michael Rubin (X-overs), Brandon Bailey (Manjis) and Richard Sleigh (MBDs).
First there were demonstrations. Todd played all five of the Golden Melodys several times, identifying for the audience which comb was in play and offered his thoughts. He also played several side by side comparisons. For example, he played the stock harp and then the harp with the Aluminum comb back-to-back. We did this until everyone in the room had heard enough.
Then the Test. Todd went behind a curtain and played the harps in a random sequence. Whoever wanted to could test their listening skills and compete for the coveted “Golden Ear Award” and their choice of a free Blue Moon Harmonica. All they had to do was identify which harp Todd was playing. Michael, Brandon and Richard then repeated this process with each of their five sets of harps.
(you can click on the picture to scroll through some additional photos)
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Tom Halchak
www.BlueMoonHarmonicas.com
Last Edited by florida-trader on Aug 22, 2013 10:31 AM
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florida-trader
343 posts
Aug 22, 2013
10:18 AM
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We all know the subject of comb material has been debated on this forum and others ad nauseam. The harmonica world is clearly divided between those who believe comb material makes no difference and those who believe it does. We had 25 people attend the workshop and by show of hands, the room was pretty much split down the middle with regard to this question. It is important to note that in the context of this workshop “different” meant just that – different. Different could mean better or worse or just different. So we were not out to prove that stock Hohner or Suzuki combs were bad and custom Blue Moon combs are good. We were just creating some data which would help people make their own decisions. When was the last time that you were able to test five (nearly) identical harps, each built with a different comb, side by side? Quite possibly never. Afterwards, all the harps used in the workshop were available at my booth for anyone to play and test for themselves. It proved to be a valuable aid for those who wanted to do their own testing as they contemplated investing in a new comb.
And so what about the results?
As mentioned, Todd went first and it only took until the third harp for there to be some very interesting reactions – raised eye brows, oohs and aahs - in the room. The most dramatic reactions came from the “non-believers”. It was instant. It was spontaneous. I got a big kick out of it. It was the GM with the brass comb. Most agreed that it was louder and “brighter”. This is a huge oversimplification but as we progressed through all 20 harps, regardless of the brand or model, the general consensus is that the metal combs – brass and aluminum – made the harps louder and brighter. The Corian combs most closely resembled the stock wood combs on the MBD’s and X-Overs and there was little difference between acrylic and the stock plastic comb of the GM and the composite comb of the Manji. I would be the first to agree that this was not the most scientific test and it was a very small sampling of data. However, I think everyone had a good time and at the end of the workshop nearly everyone agreed that there was a difference in the tone produced by combs made from different materials – even the former non-believers.
Most people scored 4 or 5 correct out of 20 on the test. The highest score of 7 was achieved by Margie Goldsmith. Margie was awarded the coveted “Golden Ear Award” at the Saturday banquet and she also got to design a nice Manji in Ab with a pink comb and red covers for herself which was also presented at the banquet.
Conclusion. I did the workshop to have some fun and stir up a little polite controversy and that it did. In addition to the workshop I had countless conversations with people as they stopped by my booth throughout the remainder of SPAH. The bottom line is that there are people who believe that nothing beats the tone of the pear wood Marine Band comb. Others like the Corian or Aluminum or Brass or Acrylic combs. None of that is surprising to me. I only have one set of ears and I can only decide for myself what I prefer. Each of us has to make our own decision. I hope that some of the folks who attended the workshop will offer their thoughts on this thread. Please feel free to ask me any questions. A special thanks to Harvey Berman who videoed the workshop so if pressed to do so, I might edit the content down to a manageable length and post it on YouTube. And another special thanks to Keith Mitchell for the great photos. And finally, thanks to our four celebrity guests who helped out.
Let the debate continue!
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Tom Halchak
www.BlueMoonHarmonicas.com
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Kingley
3028 posts
Aug 22, 2013
10:30 AM
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Sounds like a you had great fun doing this Tom. I wish I could have been there. I for one would certainly be interested in seeing the video of the tests. Maybe you could put up four videos? One with each demonstrator. That could make for an interesting little series of videos.
On a side note the stock Manji comb is thicker than a Marine Band comb isn't it? Does the thickness of a comb affect the overall tonality of the harp?
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florida-trader
344 posts
Aug 22, 2013
10:45 AM
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Kingley - that would be another debate and another test - Comb thickness! But yes, the Manji and all the other Hohner combs are thicker than a Marine Band comb. Makes you wonder. It seems that a lot of people aspire to capture the famous Marine band tone but when they build the harps they use thicker combs. Even Hohner does it!
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Tom Halchak
www.BlueMoonHarmonicas.com
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harpoon_man
30 posts
Aug 22, 2013
11:09 AM
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I was sitting in the front row during the test and had walked in as an unbeliever in the concept of any tonal difference between comb materials; however, I really thought I could hear a difference between metal combs vs. everything else when the harps were played by Todd Parrott, Michael Rubin, and Brandon Bailey. Richard Sleigh focused on playing chords instead of single notes, and the difference there were much more subtle to my ears.
The metal comb harps sounded to me a bit brighter with a more well-defined attack...maybe more articulate overall. The plastic comb harps sounded generally darker and generally had less "definition" to the notes, which is not always a bad thing.
I left the seminar thinking it would be a great idea to buy plastic combs for higher-key harps (to cut the shrillness) and metal combs for lower-key harps to add brightness and articulation...and I plan to buy some more combs and cover plates after I sell my champ hopefully soon.
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harpoon_man
32 posts
Aug 22, 2013
3:59 PM
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Oh, and I also thought it was highly amusing when a certain highly-respected Hohner proponent chimed in from the back of the room during the test and said: "They [Suzuki] use wood in the Manji comb, but it doesn't sound like wood!" (or something to that effect) He sounded a bit miffed.
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rbeetsme
1339 posts
Aug 22, 2013
4:40 PM
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The older I get the less important a comb is to me. (I imagine Jimi Lee and Kim Wilson would agree)
Last Edited by rbeetsme on Aug 22, 2013 4:41 PM
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florida-trader
345 posts
Aug 22, 2013
5:20 PM
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Rick. I know some very very good players who would agree with you. I also know some who would not. You might be surprised by some of the top players that happily paid me to install combs on their harps.
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Tom Halchak
www.BlueMoonHarmonicas.com
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rbeetsme
1340 posts
Aug 22, 2013
7:06 PM
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Tom, you missed the joke.
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HarveyHarp
486 posts
Aug 22, 2013
8:41 PM
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I got it. In addition, Scott Albert Johnson and Jimmy Gordon
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HarveyHarp
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groyster1
2345 posts
Aug 23, 2013
11:58 AM
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I replaced 2 big river combs with hetrick combs...the result was the leaky big rivers leaked no more
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