A440
369 posts
May 02, 2015
11:41 AM
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Has anyone seen one of these? I am imagining a Special 20 or Session Steel comb made of wood. Have any of you custom comb makers out there pondered the pros and cons? I think it could be a good alternative. The thing I dislike about wooden combed harps is the exposed, and usually slightly protruding, metal reed plate.
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nacoran
8468 posts
May 02, 2015
11:59 AM
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I haven't seen one like that. I'm thinking that little bead of wood raised up my be a little fragile, although some of the harder woods and composite woods might be strong enough.
That's just a guess though. I bet Tom would know though, since he machines his recessed combs. (The only other guy out there doing machined recessed combs, I think, is Bluexlabs, but they are in Europe.)
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Nate
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First Post- May 8, 2009
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A440
370 posts
May 02, 2015
12:43 PM
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Thanks Nate. I am thinking there should be hard woods that could work.
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the_happy_honker
217 posts
May 02, 2015
2:46 PM
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I think Blue Moon has some rosewood combs advertised on the For Sale page (scroll down to April 8). They are works of art.
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arzajac
1638 posts
May 02, 2015
3:00 PM
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"The thing I dislike about wooden combed harps is the exposed, and usually slightly protruding, metal reed plate"
You can smoothen out the reed plate (take it off the comb first!) using some fine sandpaper. Be careful to keep your sandpaper strokes away from the reeds... That can make them much more comfortable to play.
If the protruding plates really bother you, my combs have oval shaped screw holes so you can position the reed plates further back if you like.
My concern around a recessed-reed-plate comb is that by design, it's not going to be as flat as a sandwich-type comb. When all the surfaces are flat, you don't even need screws to play the harp. The surfaces form a vacuum and they don't want to leave each other. It's as though the harp is one solid piece. I wouldn't give that up just because of the front reed plate - that's fixable...
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Custom overblow harps. Harmonica Combs and Tools.
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A440
373 posts
May 02, 2015
3:14 PM
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Yes, reed plates can be sanded flush. But I still prefer recessed plates. Imagine the SP20 in wood! Maybe rosewood, which is used on the FireBreath.
Dortel Harmonicas does some great work with wood. But I've not seen one with recessed reedplates.
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florida-trader
683 posts
May 04, 2015
9:13 AM
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A440 – Sorry that I did not speak up sooner. I was at the Harmonica Collective all last week and did not check in on MBH.
I do have some CNC Milled Wood Combs for both the Special 20 and the Session Steel. At the moment, I have 2 Rosewood combs for the Special 20 and 1 Purple Heart Comb for the Session Steel. They are very nice combs. See below. Feel free to contact me directly to discuss them.
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Tom Halchak
www.BlueMoonHarmonicas.com
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ridge
603 posts
May 04, 2015
11:09 AM
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A440 - I tried the rosewood SP20 comb at the Harmonica Collective and it's quite an impressive piece. Super smooth and glossy. It feels like any other nicely polished material except that it's wood. It also feels plenty sturdy in its construction.
I can't make any claims besides the comfort and durability factor; Tom had it set up with stock reed plates (can't remember if the draw plate was sanded) and no reed work (no gapping, profiling, etc)
Hope that helps anybody else who is wondering about this comb.
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Ridge's YouTube
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A440
374 posts
May 04, 2015
2:30 PM
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Tom, these look awesome, and exactly as I imagined.
I will be in touch...
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